Young Heat And Air Tech Learns CPR On The Phone; Saves Customer's Life

Young Heat And Air Tech Learns CPR On The Phone; Saves Customer's Life

A Soddy Daisy man said he is alive because of the quick actions of a young heat and air tech who was at his home when he suffered an attack.

David and Marilyn Killian said they are forever grateful to 21-year-old Cameron Lowe.

Ms. Killian said, "North Georgia Heating and Air were supposed to come service our central unit a few weeks ago and things had to be rescheduled. The tech was supposed to come to our house between 1-5 that day and his schedule let up, so he called David while he was mowing our yard to see if he could come earlier.

"By the time Cameron got to our house, David was push mowing our back yard.

They chatted briefly. David got very dizzy and sweaty while mowing and sat down on our swing, which was about 15 feet away from the central unit where Cameron was working.

"He started noticing that David wasn't responding to him and he went over to check on him. He noticed something was bad wrong. Cameron jumped into action, bear hugged David to get him off the swing and called 911. It is noteworthy that Cameron is much smaller than David.

"The 911 operator (also a hero) talked Cameron through on how to do CPR and stayed on the phone with him until help arrived. We have heard Cameron performed CPR on David for around 11 minutes until help showed up. The volunteer fire department got there first followed by the EMT's. The EMT's took over.

"Cameron was able to get David's heart started back, then the EMT's kept working on David. David heard later that they had given up on him, but he started coming to in the ambulance.

"He spent three nights in CVICU at CHI Memorial downtown while receiving excellent medical care. He received another stent."

Ms. Killian said she believes the attack was brought on from her husband eating barbeque sauce that contained anchovies in Worcestershire and soy sauce. She said her husband is highly allergic to shellfish.

Ms. Killian said, "We are so grateful for all those, especially Cameron and the 911 operator who jumped into action to help save David's life.

"The lessons here are to know how to perform CPR and the importance of that and also to not wait on help to get there. Because of Cameron's heroic action to help David, he is still with us today."

Ms. Killian also said she and her husband are Christians and believe the circumstances were ordained so Cameron would be at their home at the right time.

James Berry, a member of the Mowbray VFD, said it was just before noon on Thursday when the unit "received a call of an unconscious person in our district. We had recently instituted a Stipend program to cover daytime shift. Our fire chief, a licensed paramedic, was on vacation, so we had extra help that week. We had a half a dozen volunteers show up, and were relieved to see what we found.

"A young man, only 21, had performed life saving measures. He was a heating and air tech who happened to be in the right place and the right time."

Mr. Berry said the Killian couple "are some of the finest people you will ever meet. The night before the incident, they were packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Fund to go to needy kids across the globe.

"The Lord was looking out for David, and rightfully so."

Ms. Killian said one more thing - "Cameron lives in Whitwell and he really wanted to come see David and hug his neck. It was a sweet reunion."