First Aid Corps

A waitress at Red Lobster restaurant on South Glenstone Avenue got a special honor on Wednesday. It wasn’t a birthday or anniversary but recognition for the way that Autumn Morris sprang into action and saved a man’s life.

Autumn Morris the Saviour

Morris wasn’t supposed to work last Aug. 6, but she did. On that day, Dan White of Rolla went into cardiac arrest at a table.

Morris immediately began CPR on White and continued until the fire department arrived. Morris visited his wife, Bernice, at the hospital, and kept in contact with the family through his recovery.

The Whites drove back to Springfield on Wednesday to see Morris honored with Liberty Mutual’s LifeSaver Award.

“Just think within yourself what it takes to be the one to jump to action,” said Red Lobster executive Bob Carver.

“I’m touched anytime someone makes a difference for someone else, and today I see that wife and husband together, so I know she made a big difference for that family, and her Red Lobster family makes a big difference with her, too,” said Gloria Morris, Autumn Morris’ mother.

This was the first time that Dan White really met Autumn Morris that he remembers. He says she invited him and his wife to the ceremony and they were happy to support her.

Red Lobster staff also gave the Whites a meal on the house that they could stay and finish in good health.

Art Morris said his afternoon trip to Highway 7 Tim Hortons Sunday, Feb. 21 was a daily ritual. He arrived about 2 p.m., got his coffee and sat down to chat with a group of regulars.

After a while, one friend wondered why Art was leaning on him. “They told me that they thought I was leaning as if I was going to pick something off the floor, and I don’t remember another thing,” he said.

Two Tim Hortons staff members had started CPR right away.

At the couple’s home just south of Perth, Alma was getting ready for a shift as a supervisor at Lanark Lodge. “The phone rang about quarter after two and I thought maybe it was just friends calling for a visit, and I was rushing to get ready,” she recalled.

Fortunately, Alma decided to answer, and was told Art had fainted and was being taken to the Perth site of the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital.

Arriving at the hospital, Alma noticed there was a Perth Police vehicle there but didn’t realize “it was me they were waiting for.”

“When the ambulance staff arrived they made the comment that without the employees quick action, their efforts might not have been as successful,” said Alma. “We are very thankful.”

Alma said her knowledge of Art’s chances of survival, based on her professional experience, made the whole experience more terrifying if anything. “I was just like jelly,” she said. Doctors in both Perth and Kingston said Art’s survival, and relatively rapid recovery, were “a miracle.”

Last Monday Alma, along with her daughter, son, daughter-in-law and sister, went to the restaurant to thank the staff for helping to save Art.

“There were tears in our eyes, of course,” she said. “They weren’t looking for pay, they weren’t looking for words of praise or anything. The two staff members said thanks wasn’t necessary,” said Alma, “but my daughter piped up and said, “Yes, it is.”"

“If you can save one person out of a thousand, isn’t it worth it?” said Alma.