Mom & Paramedics Help Save Teenager From Cardiac Arrest
By Jeff Todd
LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - It was a chain of events that kept Taylor Knight just barely alive.
"My mom came in here and saw Taylor on the bed and she wasn't breathing. She was white and turning blue," said Taylor's mom, Shannon Knight. "I used to teach 5th grade and we had had some paramedics to the school and they had talked to the kids about the new way to do CPR."
Shannon started chest compressions while paramedics were on the way.
"When it came in as a 17-year-old that always kinds of perks us up a little bit," said Engineer Mike Simons about the cardiac arrest call on July 18.
"When we found her the way we found her, that's rare to find a 17-year-old like that. That's typically something we find in the elderly populations," he said.
Simons and other firefighters continued CPR and shocked Taylor with a defibrillator.
"A lot of things went right to work out for her, and it's just incredible to see her walking away and being a happy kid now," said Simons.
On Tuesday, Taylor made her way to West Metro Fire Department Station Eight to thank the crew that responded almost two months ago.
"I was very happy that I got to meet them to see the people who deserve a lot of credit for my recovery. They're super heroes basically," said Taylor who just started her senior year in high school.
She's now looking forward toward college, and after a few more doctors' appointments she's hoping to get her driver's license back. College applications are in just a few months. But Taylor, who loves Marvel and DC comics, now knows what real heroes look like.
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"They saved my life, and I'm one story in probably 100s of people they save. They do this kind of work on a weekly, daily basis. They should feel appreciated what they did was awesome," she said. "They're still doing it, they're amazing."
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.