ORANGE PARK, Fla. — A man who suffered a heart attack was technically dead for almost ten minutes, according to first responders, before he was brought back to life.
“I had no breath, and no heartbeat for eight minutes,” Eddie Floyd said. “They pulled me out of the chair and laid me right here on this concrete.”
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Floyd was sitting in his regular spot for Sunday Service at Journey Church on October 6, when his heart began beating fast and faster.
He said he looked over at his wife and told her she was the greatest thing that ever happened to him and he loved her. Then, he said he passed out. But, he was suffering from a heart attack.
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“I was like we gotta get him on the ground. We gotta start CPR,” Keira Hicks recalled.
Hicks became CPR certified three years ago for her job as a certified nursing assistant. That Sunday was the first time she put it to the test.
Despite being members of the same church, Hicks and Floyd had never met until that October day. Before Floyd’s heart attack, Hicks went up to the altar during their service, asking for prayers. She had been experiencing some heart troubles of her own and as a worship leader, Floyd prayed over her.
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“Once he prayed over me, ten minutes later, I was doing CPR on him,” Hicks said.
Other members of the church called 911, while Hicks did compressions. Jacksonville firefighters Jeff Kendall, Bryan Baumgartner, and Ted Patterson responded to the call for cardiac arrest.
“The odds aren’t often good when you’re outside the hospital and you’re getting to him after five minutes of him being down,” Kendall said. “From the moment we walked in the doors [of the church] and all the people praying over Eddie, that was powerful. In my mind, I knew we were gonna get him back. I just knew it.”
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Action News Jax went back to Journey Church with Floyd and arranged a special reunion with the first responders and Good Samaritan who helped him.
“To meet the guy that we actually saved is it’s really good,” Baumgartner said.
First responders said Hicks’ early use of CPR also aided in Floyd’s chances for survival.
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“It’s just kind of a full circle moment just reliving that day,” Hicks said. “Instantly, we just all became family.”
The hope is that this story will inspire others to take CPR training courses and put them to good use in cases of an emergency.
“You really appreciate another day here,” Floyd said.
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