Families connect after stranger helped save man when his heart stopped beating

Two families are now forever connected after a near-death experience brought them together.

A Nassau County woman said her husband’s heart stopped beating and when she felt helpless, a stranger stepped in to help save him.

After searching nearly three months to try to track down the man who, Pat Ennis said, saved her husband’s life they met for the first time Thursday night.

“All I did was hug him and thanked him because he saved my life,” victim, Armanest Ennis said.

In July, Ennis said she was driving when her husband went into VFIB, which is a life-threatening heart condition.

“He went from laughing and cutting up, to, you know just being totally unconscious,” Ennis said.

Ennis said she quickly pulled into the nearest parking lot and called 911.

“Every second was counting, you only have a few minutes to help someone’s heart who went into VFIB,” Ennis said.

That’s when she said she flagged someone down in the parking lot and handed him the phone with dispatch on the other line.

“They said, 'Do you know CPR?' I said 'No', and they said 'We will walk you through it,'” Bo Hutchinson said.

But then the call got disconnected.

“I just did the best I could from watching what I saw on TV to clear the airways,” Hutchinson said.

After what he said felt like several minutes, paramedics got to the scene and brought Ennis’ husband to a hospital, where he made a full recovery.

“He said the one man who did CPR is the one who saved his life,” Ennis said.

But Hutchinson said he doesn’t consider himself a hero.

“This was a divine appointment that God had made, and we were just a part of it,” Hutchinson said.

The two families said they will forever be connected, and they hope their story can help others.

“Whatever you’re going through, don’t give up and trust God and believe in miracles because our family knows God is still working miracles,” Ennis said.

Cox Media Group