Jay Eatherton, a lifelong resident La Crescenta resident who recently moved to Alaska, shows the location where he spotted the victim who had stopped breathing.
By Isiah REYES
ormer distributor of CV Weekly newspapers Jay Eatherton moved last September from La Crescenta to Alaska to live a more relaxed and calmer life. But just two weeks ago, he found himself saving someone else’s life.
The 42-year-old was on his way home from work and decided to take a different route home. Eatherton drove down Old Seward Road in the city of Seward and that’s when he noticed a person lying in the snow on the side of the road.
“I thought that the person did not look right,” Eatherton said. “I turned around and parked. When I walked up to him, I noticed that his eyes were open [as was] his mouth.”
The man, 52-year-old Mike Dow of Anchorage, was lying in the snow and was not breathing and had no vital signs. That’s when Eatherton started to perform CPR and called 9-1-1.
“I stayed on the phone until the paramedics arrived,” Eatherton said. “I did not stop CPR until the paramedics were ready to take over.”
It took paramedics about 15 minutes to get to Eatherton and Dow. The whole time Eatherton did not stop compressions. After arriving, the paramedics took Dow to Providence Hospital. On the way there, they kept working on him to help him stay alive. The doctor later told Eatherton that had he did not stopped to help him and call 9-1-1, the man would not have lived.
“It was snowing at the time and dark out since the sun sets at 4 p.m.,” Eatherton said. “I am happy to report that the man is going to be okay.”
The man may have suffered some damage due to the lack of oxygen, but is expected to make a full recovery. Eatherton said he learned how to perform CPR about four years ago when his daughter was born and this was the first time he had to use it.
“The sad thing is that there was a woman not 20 feet from the man waiting for the bus,” Eatherton said. “She did nothing to help him.”
So, because of that, Eatherton wants people to be aware of how to perform CPR and save lives. Now that Eatherton is being recognized as a “new hometown” hero, the local fire department has asked him to go to places to give lectures on what it is like to do CPR and save someone’s life. Eatherton said he is willing to do anything that will allow even more people to save lives.
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