Clarksville Waitress Having Seizure Saved By Off-Duty Montgomery County Officer
CLARKSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) -- A Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief was in the right place at the right time when a waitress at a Clarksville restaurant had a seizure.
Marc Yamada was off-duty, having late dinner with his family at Bushel and a Peck when Vanessa Lopez fell to the ground.
"I was working and everything," Lopez, 24, said. "Almost getting ready to go, and that's when I don't remember anything. And afterward I just remember waking up outside on a gurney."
It had never happened to her before. Yamada's instincts kicked in when Lopez dropped all the glasses and plates she was holding to the floor.
"I knew to try to protect her head from banging itself into the ground more," he said. "I just tried to keep her calm, reassure her. I kept telling her its okay, I'm here with you. I started pounding on her back and when I did that four or five times, she suddenly gasped and started gurgling little bit and then came around."
Lopez said she was just about to leave for home, and that she was lucky the seizure didn't happen when she was driving.
"Im glad it happened here with someone who knew what to do," she said.
If it wasn't for the family's decision to order dessert, Yamada says he wouldn't have been there.
I feel incredibly lucky honestly, because not a lot of people get dessert, so I'm lucky for that," Lopez said. "I like how he kept his calm and made sure I was okay."
Lopez says her CT Scan came back clean, and she's now waiting to see a neurologist for an exam to look into the cause of her seizure.