An off-duty Department of Defense firefighter is being honored for saving a passenger’s life while on a flight to South Carolina. Captain Bryan Ballard was traveling on United Flight 4288 over Labor Day weekend when a woman went into cardiac arrest mid-air. With the help of another passenger, he performed CPR and used a defibrillator, caring for the woman until the plane landed in Columbia, where medical staff met the aircraft.
Ballard, who’s been a firefighter for 19 years, describes the moment as “surreal” and recalls hearing the urgency in the flight attendant’s voice before rushing to help. “I checked for a pulse, it was very weak, thready,” he says, explaining how he worked to keep the woman alive until the plane was on the ground. United Airlines later issued a statement thanking the passengers who assisted during the medical emergency.
Despite the recognition, Ballard is downplaying his role, saying it was simply his duty as a first responder. “This isn’t something we want credit for. As first responders, we don’t want credit for this; this is what we do,” he says. He adds that he is praying for the woman’s full recovery and hopes to get to meet her and her family one day.
Source: WTSP
photo: GETTY
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