Cabarrus school board saves member’s life during heart attack in middle of meeting

Cabarrus school board saves member’s life during heart attack in middle of meeting

Greg Mills doesn’t remember collapsing. One moment, the Cabarrus County school board member was working through the final item of a closed-session agenda. The next, he was in a hospital bed, with doctors explaining that he had survived a heart attack thanks to the quick actions of his fellow board members and county staff.

At Monday night’s school board work session, Mills publicly thanked the colleagues who came to his aid during the Nov. 10 closed-session meeting. He described them as assembling “like the Avengers” in the seconds after they realized something was wrong. Mills said he remembers none of it: not the collapse, not the rush of footsteps, not the CPR that kept blood flowing to his brain. “I don’t remember much of it until I got to the hospital,” he told The Charlotte Observer. “I would have died if I had not been in a place where people knew how to do CPR and where they had the AED device.”

Board members and staff filled him in afterward. Several visited him in the hospital, he said. According to Mills and board chair Rob Walter, one member immediately called 911 while others cleared chairs and moved Mills to the floor. Board member Sam Treadaway began chest compressions, and Walter stepped in when he tired. The superintendent and board staff ran to find the defibrillator. Others stood by doors to guide EMS and give medics an unobstructed path into the building. “They all had a role. They all just found the thing that needed to be done,” Mills said. Mills said doctors told him the episode was caused by a blood clot that briefly blocked part of his heart.

The blockage triggered an arrhythmia and caused him to lose consciousness. The EMS chief who treated him told Mills that in 30 years he hadn’t seen many people survive the condition Mills was in when first responders arrived. Mills said chest compressions kept oxygen flowing to his brain, preventing neurological damage, while the defibrillator’s shock restored his heart rhythm. “That device, and having people around me trained in CPR, made all the difference,” he said. Walter said the emergency was “unexpected and shocking,” especially because Mills had been fully engaged moments earlier.

He said board members shifted instantly into action, many praying as they worked and relaying instructions from 911 until paramedics arrived. “Everyone came together to help and pray,” Walter told the Observer “I’m very proud of my fellow board members and superintendent and thankful that Greg is still here with us… Truly feels like a miracle.” Mills said he is grateful to be alive, and is feeling much better. “Every one of these individuals saved my life,” he said. “I’m eternally grateful.” Walter, too, emphasized how close the outcome came to being very different. “It was a pretty traumatic situation, but again so proud of all those who were there and stepped up to help,” he said. “If he had been alone, it would have been a different story.”