Brother Scott Alexander jumped into action and performed CPR on a stranger who was in distress. Alexander’s efforts helped to extend the man’s life for a few days, allowing his family to say their goodbyes.
February was a difficult time for Brother Scott Alexander, General Chairman of the BLET’s Union Pacific-Southern Region General Committee of Adjustment. Alexander had just lost his mother and was at his parents’ house making funeral arrangements with extended family when he put his personal grief aside to help save the life of a stranger.
A woman came to the door and said there was a man outside who had fallen down and needed help. Alexander, his younger brother, and his uncle — a retired state trooper — found the man lying face-down in their driveway. He was unresponsive, had no pulse, and was not breathing.
Before the start of his railroad career, Alexander had worked in an emergency room for about three years. “I’ve done CPR so many times, you never forget, and instinct just took over,” he said. “There was no hesitation. It was instinctual, like I was a totally different person.”
Alexander performed CPR on the man for 6-8 minutes, then his uncle took over until an ambulance arrived to take him to a nearby emergency room in Oklahoma City.
Dealing with the grief that comes from losing his mother and then suddenly being thrust into an emergency situation left Alexander emotionally drained.
“I was a wreck,” he said. “To save a life is an emotional thing.”
Sadly, the man passed away two days later. It turns out that when he fell, he fractured his C2 vertebrae, a crucial bone that can lead to fatal breathing issues when broken.
The Alexander family soon found out that the man was a neighbor. His daughter and grandson came by and wanted to talk. “The grandson, he thanked us for not letting his grandfather die alone on the side of the road,” Alexander said. “They thanked us for giving them two more days with him.” The man’s family also thanked the Alexander family on a community Facebook page, stating that “good people and angels are still in this world.”
“If the tables were turned, I hope someone would do the same for me or my family,” Alexander said.
If anything comes of this, it’s that Alexander encourages others to learn CPR. “Just learn CPR, because you never know when you might need it,” he said. “At a football game or at the grocery store. In a lot of the meetings we attend, the question is often asked if anyone in the room is CPR qualified. Fewer and fewer people say yes these days. It’s so simple to do. I would just encourage someone else to learn.”
For in-person or online CPR lessons, please visit the American Red Cross website: www.redcross.org/take-a-class
