A state legislator is being credited with saving a life this afternoon, though if you ask him the credit isn’t his.
Representative Ron Hicks (Photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
After the State of the Judiciary Address wrapped up in the House of Representatives, hundreds of people filed into the 3rd Floor Rotunda of the State Capitol to enjoy a catered meal. Representative Ron Hicks (R-St. Peters) was visiting with a lobbyist nearby when he saw a man and woman go to the ground.
“I didn’t know if it was a confrontation or what,” Hicks says of his initial reaction, “But it was immediately known that she was having a seizure.”
Hicks called 911 and while he was on that call the woman lost consciousness. He handed off his phone to a woman standing nearby and asked if anyone in the crowd knew CPR. The man, who Hicks later learned was her father, immediately responded.
“He’s to be commended more than anybody … he did not skip a beat. When I said ‘CPR,” he looked at me right in the eyes like, ‘OK, let’s go. What do I do?'”
The father provided breaths while Hicks did chest compressions. The representative says the woman’s eyelids and lips quickly turned blue but he thinks only a few seconds passed before she regained consciousness.
“All of a sudden … I’m getting ready to do my fourth compression and her eyes lit up, I mean the size of quarters, and she took the deepest breath. Go hold your breath under the water as long as you can and when you come up you’re going to gasp for air, and that’s exactly what she did.”
The woman was still incoherent when she was taken to a local hospital but is reported to be doing fine now. Hicks says he doesn’t know what caused the incident but was told that blood thinners she was taking could have been a contributor.
Listen to our interview with Ron Hicks here
He credits other people who were nearby with helping care for the woman and control the scene.
“Bruce Holt … he was smart enough to grab a tablecloth off the table and they made a barrier so no one could see what was going on. Half the people didn’t know we were doing CPR on a young lady right there on the ground right next to them,” says Hicks. “I think a lot of people played a big part in this to tell you the truth. Her father, Bruce Holt, the paramedics for getting there so quickly … the lady that took my phone … People stepped up when needed to be and that’s what I think we need to do more of.”
Hicks gave her father a business card and hopes to hear from the family if only to know if she’s doing alright.
