Two Tipperary men save two separate lives in the US

In two separate incidents over the New Year, two men, formerly from Fethard, County Tipperary,  were involved in saving two lives in the United States, one in the state of Florida and another in New York City.

The first incident involved a woman saved by Paul Fogarty-Brown and his husband Karlton Brown, when she started choking at a steakhouse in Boca Raton, Florida, USA. The second incident was an attempted suicide in New York City, which was averted by the prompt action of passer-by Gerry Nevin. Our congratulations to Paul and Karlton, and to Gerry for their courage and skill in dealing with both cases.

Paul Fogarty-Brown, 34, son of Frank and Una Fogarty, Fethard, and his husband, 39-year-old Karlton Brown were celebrating a friend’s birthday on Tuesday, January 1, at Morton’s Steakhouse in Boca Raton when they heard a commotion at a table nearby when a woman began choking during dinner. Paul and Karlton, who are both CPR certified, said the woman, looked to be in her 60s, lost consciousness as the couple approached. Karlton says he and Paul were the only customers, out of dozens, who knew CPR.  So they put the woman on the floor and performed CPR on the woman for at least 12 minutes.

"She lost consciousness," said Paul Fogarty-Brown, "And then her pulse and her heart stopped. She is completely purple, her forehead, her eyes, her lips”.

“When I did the last major thrust, the steak dislodged.” Karlton said. “As soon as we got the steak dislodged and she took that huge gasp of air, Paul felt her pulse come back.” But they continued administering aid until emergency responders arrived. They said the woman was rushed to hospital and is doing well now. She messaged the couple on Thursday thanking them for saving her life, calling them her saviours.

Karlton Brown, who is a volunteer firefighter, has to go through CPR training every two years. But both said they liked to attend basic life support training in order to be ready for any emergency. They also encourage more people to go through CPR training. It would make a great New Year's resolution.

SUICIDE ATTEMPT IN NEW YORK CITY

Gerry Nevin, son of the late Kathleen and Dick Nevin, St. Patrick’s Place, Fethard, and is now living in New York with his partner Sylvia.  Gerry was up early on Thursday morning, January 3,  to take his dog Suzie for a walk around 6.15am.  While on his walk he noticed a car across the road with its lights on and the engine running. He also noticed something unusual hanging on the back of the car and something silver going down the side of the car. He was just going back home when he decided to investigate as he thought it looked a bit odd.  It was still dark when he looked into the car he couldn't see anyone. 

When Gerry looked to his right to see what the silver on the side of the car was, he saw a hose coming out of the back window and going around to the back of the car. He then knew straight away what he had come across and that there must be someone in the car.  He tried to open the door but it was locked. He then started banging on the window.  He tried to pull the pipe out of the window but the window was all sealed with duct tape and the hose taped down the side of the car, so he ran around to the back of the car and pulled the hose out of the exhaust pipe.  The white he had seen was tea towels and rags that the guy had stuffed into the exhaust pipe.

The guy, who was lying flat in the car, got out and Gerry could see that he wasn't right as the fumes must have started to take affect.  Gerry was so shaken that he couldn't even phone the police so when he saw a neighbour out, he asked him to ring.  The guy was eventually taken away to hospital. When the police arrived, they told Gerry that he had saved the man's life.