‘He was turning blue’: Southern Colorado woman uses CPR to save husband’s life

CPR saves lives, and a Southern Colorado woman is hoping her experience motivates more people to get certified.

You hope you never have to perform CPR on someone but it’s something you should be prepared for.

That rang true for Hannah McDowell over the summer when she found her husband, Chris Sutton, unresponsive.

“He was turning blue, he was convulsing and he clearly couldn’t breathe,” said McDowell.

McDowell called 911 immediately and started CPR.

If McDowell had not been able to start chest compression effectively...

“I wouldn’t be here,” said Sutton.

The American Heart Association reports that 70% of cardiac events happen away from a hospital.

If someone needed CPR would you know what to do?

Kyle Boyd with Rescue Ready Academy told 11 News CPR training allows you to better understand what it takes to execute chest compressions effectively.

“It’s important that you know these skills and have had a little bit of practice,” Boyd continued. “You have to do between 100 to 120 compressions a minute for it to be high quality CPR. To hear someone was able to utilize the training in the right way to save a life is so meaningful.”

McDowell agrees that the hands on experience is crucial.

“Being able to get that hands on experience, I knew what to expect when I started on him or else I don’t think I would have done them correctly,” said McDowell.

After what the couple went through, they had Boyd train their kids on CPR ASAP.

“If you are physically capable of it, it’s a couple hours out of your life and you genuinely never know when you’re going to walk through a door and need it,” said McDowell.

Boyd also presented McDowell with an American Heart Association “Heartsaver Hero Award.”

“Total applause on her,” said Sutton.

McDowell is grateful for the acknowledgement and even more grateful her husband is still here and recovering well.