'Just completely gone': Omaha husband saves wife with CPR skill learned decades ago

'Just completely gone': Omaha husband saves wife with CPR skill learned decades ago

The Dunsmore family is spreading awareness about the life-saving skill of CPR.
Four in every five people who need CPR will need it in their own home, according to data from the American Heart Association.

As one Omaha family found out, it's a skill that could save the life of someone you love.

Sarah Dunsmore remembers it as a normal Saturday in October 2022.

"I was just feeling uncomfortable," she said. "I was a little off, but nothing having to do with my chest."

She remembers sweating profusely. Her husband Shawn had just came home, so she went to bed with a wet wash cloth trying to cool down.

Minutes later, Shawn heard a gurgling sound.

"When I first walked upstairs and saw her, I actually yelled out, 'Not a funny joke,'" he recalled. "I thought it was a joke."

It took only seconds for him to realize it wasn't. Sarah was flat on the bed, mouth open, tongue out, and no heartbeat.

"I was just completely gone," she said.

In a matter of seconds, he started CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, to try to bring his wife back. He called 911 and told their boys to wait outside for the ambulance.

"I was just reacting," Shawn said. "You freeze or react, and luckily I did."

The family has the 911 call saved. You can hear the operator coach Shawn through the steps of CPR.

He learned CPR as a teen counselor at a family YMCA in Texas, but it had been more than 20 years since he had any training.

"You're going to put the heal of your hand in the center of her chest," the male voice calmly said. "Put your other hand on top. Push down hard and fast, two inches in depth."

What followed was a grueling seven minutes.

Shawn said it was exhausting.

"When I would get tired, I had to tell myself, 'Hey, this is Sarah. Buck up and keep going!'" he said.

Sarah would spend nearly a week in the hospital.

Over the first four days, she was in a coma — going through therapeutic hypothermia. It's a slow process that brings the body's temperature down and then back up to limit damage.

"I remember waking up and being very confused," Sarah said. "I had a hard time understanding why I was there."

She said she wasn't the best patient — pulling her IVs out and even causing a blood clot in her arm.

Doctors diagnosed her with SCAD or spontaneous coronary artery dissection. It's a tearing of the heart's artery.

But the human body does amazing things. No intervention was needed.

"The tear was already healing itself, so they didn't have to put anything in," she said.

There were no warning signs for this active mom, wife, and business owner, other than three hours of uncomfortableness one Saturday morning.

Even 20 months later, doctors are still cautious with Sarah, but she feels healthy.

Most importantly, she's alive and overwhelmed with gratitude.

"To have someone save your life, really save your life, it's hard to explain," she said. "It's not something you can just thank someone for, and I knew it came from such a place of love."

Now, as part of CPR and AED Awareness Week, they're sharing their story hoping to inspire others.

"Everyone should take CPR," Shawn said. "As a society, we should put it in high schools. Why isn't everyone getting some exposure to this? It's not a technical thing. You just need to know a few things, and look what it can do."