Since the early 1970s, Tyrone\u2019s Jay Young has dedicated his life to helping others. Whether working as fire chief or emergency service manager in Lock Haven, or helping the locals in Northern Blair County with his fire and rescue training, he said he\u2019s pretty much seen it all.
\nBut the situation that unfolded Aug. , 2002 in California was one he has never found himself in in nearly 30 years of rescue experience.
\nYoung and his wife Deanna were on U.S. Airways flight No. 36 from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh. He had just completed more than a week\u2019s worth of fire\/rescue training at the McGoo Naval Air Station, located in Ventura County, California. He was ready to come home and relax.
\nBut just an hour into the flight, right after breakfast was served, a flight attendant activated the intercom. She wanted to know if there was anybody onboard with medical training.
\n\u201cI immediately put my hand up,\u201d said Young. \u201cThey escorted me to the first class compartment. That\u2019s where I saw him.\u201d
\nThe \u201chim\u201d was 71-year-old Nelson Fox of Wilder, Ky. He and his wife Nell were returning home after a visit with their daughter, her husband and their three children.
\n\u201cI saw him (Mr. Fox) while we were at the airport waiting to board the plane,\u201d said Young. \u201cHe seemed fine. He was up and walking around and talking.\u201d
\nBut after Young reached the first-class compartment, he immediately knew Fox wasn\u2019t the same man as he was at the airport.
\n\u201cHe showed all the signs of cardiac arrest,\u201d said Young. \u201cHe was profusely sweating, he was dizzy and he had pains in his chest, left arm and neck. He was experiencing a heart attack.\u201d
\nYoung said this wasn\u2019t his first time finding himself in a situation involving a heart attack victim. He feared only the airline\u2019s crew didn\u2019t have the proper equipment to treat Fox.
\n\u201cI was surprised when the flight attendant handed me an advanced life support kit,\u201d he said. \u201cI opened it and found everything I needed \u2013 medicine, and automatic defribilator and equipment for an IV.\u201d
\n\u201cWe jumped right in,\u201d said Young, noting he was assisted by Carol Lewis, a passenger from Canton, Ohio, who, fortunately, also had prior emergency medical training. \u201cWe established an IV and gave him some oxygen. Soon, we had him stabilized.\u201d
\nAfter relaying the information on Fox\u2019s condition to the pilot, arrangements were made to make an emergency re-direct for a landing at a United States Air Force base in Colorado Springs, Colo.
\nYoung said once the plane landed, an emergency crew immediately took over, transported Fox to a local medical unit, where the man stayed for six more says until his healthy release.
\n\u201cWhat that man did for me is simple,\u201d said Fox from his home in Kentucky this week. \u201cHe saved my life. There will be never anything I can do to repay a debt like that, but if there was, I would do it.\u201d
\nAccording to Fox, he recovered from his ordeal while in the hospital and was released Aug. 13. He and his wife immediately boarded a flight home, but this time, on Delta Airlines.
\n\u201cNothing against U.S. Air, I just wanted someone else to take me home,\u201d said Fox.
\nLooking back, Young said he was glad Fox survived the incident and was pleasantly surprised more than a month later when a \u201cThank You\u201d card arrived in his Tyrone mailbox.
\n\u201cIn this line of work, you are hardly ever thanked for what you do,\u201d said Young. \u201cAnd as a provider of medical services, we don\u2019t expect that. But this card was special because I knew the sincerity in it. This man was a good man and he deserved to live. I was just glad I was able to be there to help him.\u201d
\nFox said he is fine and doing well in Kentucky and his heart attack on Aug. 7 hasn\u2019t really held him back in doing the things he likes to do.
\n\u201cI\u2019m starting to get back to 100 percent and I owe it all to those who helped me up there,\u201d said Fox. \u201cIf they wouldn\u2019t have been on that place, I probably wouldn\u2019t be talking anyone right now. It\u2019s hard to put into words how I fell about these people.
\n\u201cI guess all I can say is thank you\u2019.\u201d
\nYoung was recently recognized for his effort by U.S. Airways when the company sent him a letter thanking him for his heroism on the flight. Accompanying the letter was a complimentary round-trip ticket to anywhere in the United States.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure what I\u2019m going to do with it,\u201d he said. \u201cDefinitely a nice trip. I think my wife wants to go to Oregon, but maybe we\u2019ll visit Florida. I\u2019m not sure yet.\u201d
\nRegardless of where the happy couple decides to travel, the passengers on that plane can be assured one thing, if there\u2019s a medical emergency, they won\u2019t be there alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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