NORWOOD, Mass. — A Dover mother who collapsed in cardiac arrest is thanking the people who saved her life last spring.
In May, Lauren Quint, a mom of three, had arrived at Dedham Medical Associates at Atrius Health in Norwood for her six-week post-partum check-up with her OB-GYN. Quint was carrying her newborn son, Hap, in his car seat as she approached the building when suddenly she felt ill.
“I got really dizzy and thought, ‘Oh, no. I’m going to pass out.’ So, I remember putting him down on the sidewalk, and then that’s when I went into cardiac arrest,” Quint recalled to Boston 25 News. “If I were to have that happen anywhere, I was in the right place at the right time, for sure.”
Quint would later learn several bystanders jumped in within seconds and began providing CPR. Those good Samaritans include a former nurse who was inside the building, a man who works at a nursing home and is CPR-trained and Quint’s own doctor, who has been a longtime medic and saw her emergency from inside.
Firefighter/paramedics then arrived within five minutes of a bystander’s 911 call and used a defibrillator to restore a regular heartbeat.
Norwood Fire Lt. Kevin Morrissey, one of the department’s EMS coordinators, told Boston 25 News the bystanders who rushed to Quint’s aid “administered textbook CPR.”
“Shortly after, the crews arrived and were able to successfully defibrillate her. And that [early CPR] really made all the difference in the outcome,” Morrissey said. “We’re thrilled it was a positive outcome.”
As Quint regained consciousness being carried into the ambulance, her doctor reassured her she would be okay. Meanwhile, a pediatric office at Atrius Health took care of Hap until Quint’s husband Marty arrived.
Quint was rushed to the emergency room at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and spent two days in intensive care before eventually having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) surgically implanted to monitor her heartbeat and, in case of any future irregular heartbeat, deliver a shock to restore a normal rhythm.
While Quint has had a heart murmur her entire life, she had never had a cardiac emergency before the May incident.
Since Quint’s recovery and return home, she has been meeting and thanking the many people who helped save her life. Last weekend, she and her family visited the Norwood firefighters who responded to her emergency.
“[I am] forever grateful for them running to me, because they saved my life,” an emotional Quint said of all those involved. “And I get to be here with my three kids and my husband, and it’s just so special to know that that many people wanted to help in that moment.”
Quint’s husband Marty, too, expressed his gratitude for those who stepped up in the moments following his wife’s emergency as well as the medical team at Beth Israel.
“We’re just immensely grateful for everyone that helped Lauren that day,” he said. “She’s a walking miracle. It’s amazing she’s doing as well as she’s doing today. So, a lot, a lot of people helped her be in the situation she’s in today.”
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