Some strangers come as guardian angels into our lives for just a few minutes and end up changing everything. Something similar happened with Patrick McGee, a grandpa who was on a flight and had a sudden medical emergency.This is one of those stories that set an example of how a small act of courage and kindness, even from a stranger just at the right moment, can help save a life.
Meet Grandpa Patrick, who was ‘dead’ but brought back to life by a stranger
Patrick McGee, 77, was flying Southwest Airlines from Omaha to Phoenix on July 29 when his heart suddenly stopped. “There are no words you can say. I was gone. They said I was dead and brought back,” he told 12News. The medical emergency hit right as the plane was coming in to land in Arizona, leaving McGee with almost no memory of what happened next.
He remembers only a conversation, then an ambulance
Before everything went dark, McGee recalled simply chatting with the woman seated beside him. “We were just basically talking about life, and then the next thing I know, I’m in an ambulance,” he said. He had no idea, in that moment, that the same woman he’d been talking to was about to become the reason he was still breathing.
The stranger guardian angel who brought him back to life
McGee later learned that the woman sitting next to him performed CPR and kept him alive until help arrived. “I owe this person a great deal,” he said. “I have a son, grandkids, wife, brothers, and I’m still here with them because of her.” He doesn’t know her name, and he hasn’t been able to track her down since landing.
His nurse is now helping in the search
McGee is currently recovering at Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital in Phoenix, and his nurse, Katie Smolsky, has joined him in trying to find the woman. According to PEOPLE, he is currently determined to find the woman who saved him, but first, he has to figure out who she is.”If you’re out there, listening to me right now, thank you so very much,” he said, which carries the weight of everything that happened to him and the gratitude of a family that still has their dad, husband, and grandpa, because one passenger knew what to do and didn’t hesitate.