Nurse saves unconscious man on way to her bridal shower
The off-duty nurse and her mother did chest compressions until EMS arrived.
— -- Bride-to-be Lauren Wirwille made an unexpected and life-changing stop on the way to her bridal shower on Sunday.
Wirwille, an emergency room nurse for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Green Oak Township, Michigan, was already running late when she and her mother noticed a driver in distress.
Wirwille told ABC News she honked when a minivan in front of her was "stopped for an abnormally long time" at a stop sign. The car moved ahead, and after Wirwille made her turn at the intersection, her mom saw the van veer off the road.
"I said to my mom, 'I think that man is slumped over,' and she said, 'Yeah, his car just went down into that ditch.' So I pulled over right away," Wirwille said. She walked toward the ditch and found the man unconscious and blue in the face, and her mother called 911.
Wirwille said she was thankful another driver pulled over and helped her get the man out of his vehicle.
She added that the other driver "was super-instrumental in making things happen the way they did. Without him, it would have been a really big struggle."
She checked the minivan's driver for a pulse and immediately started CPR. "Not a lot of people know how to do chest compressions," Wirwille said. "After a little while, you do get tired, and you need to not be tired, so I had my mom start chest compressions. She did great. I was so proud of her."
Green Oak Township Fire Chief Kevin Gentry then arrived at the scene.
He told ABC News that he received a call for a man in cardiac arrest. The incident occurred at approximately 11 a.m., he said.
"We arrived to find the nurse and her mother doing CPR on someone," Gentry said. "They had pulled him out of the car ... I joined in the efforts and assisted them."
A Livingston County EMS crew arrived and revived the man, Wirwille said.
The crew transported him to Providence Hospital, and Gentry said he believes the man is recovering but did not have any information beyond that. The cause of the episode is under investigation, he added.
Wirwille, whose wedding is scheduled for July 1, said she was welcomed to her shower with applause for her heroic actions.
"I made it to my shower about an hour late," she said, laughing. "I am just so thankful that I was in the right place at the right time. It's always great to help somebody, and it was just a very humbling experience."
