First Aid Corps

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Dolphan McFadden Saved

On January 4th, McFadden was playing basketball with his friends on this same court when his heart stopped.

“My heart just started fluttering and I just fell out.”

McFadden, who is a physically fit 52-year-old father of six, fell flat on the court.

Jessica Thompson is a nurse at the Orange Park Medical Center. She just happened to be taking an exercise class at the YMCA that day. Her boyfriend, who had been playing ball with McFadden, brought her to his aid.

Thompson used the YMCA’s automated external defibrillator, or AED, on McFadden. It’s the third time an AED at a First Coast YMCA has been used.

Thompson said, “After the AED shocked him, I started CPR and Bill started after me.”

She’s talking about Bill McCarthy, who works at the front desk at the YMCA. He’s served two tours in Vietnam, and those life-saving skills he learned in the military came back to him.

McCarthy said, “Then I got some shallow breaths from you. It was just enough to stop CPR, put an oxygen mask on you, and they put you on a gurney.”

McFadden was then rushed to the hospital, unconscious, and had to have surgery. Doctors put a defibrillator device into his chest to prevent his heart from stopping again.

Tuesday, McCarthy shook his head and told McFadden, “Yeah, I worked like crazy on you.”

McFadden smiled and said, “That’s my man! Thank you, Bill! You’re an angel. You’re an angel.”

Bill replied, “Naw. I was just there at the right place at the right time.”

“I used to be someone who had trouble sitting down. I would keep pretty active,” he said. “Now I am getting chauffeured around until they clear me to drive again.”

As for McCarthy and Thompson, McFadden said they’re actions kept him alive to enjoy more time with his wife, Victoria, and his five children.

McFadden calmly told First Coast News, “I had angels here protecting me, looking out for me. So, I feel blessed.”

“To me they are like angels being at the right place at the right time. The timing was impeccable,” he said. “It was sheer coincidence that (Thompson) was there to operate (the AED).”

“I’m just thanking God that I am alive.”