Nurse and Boyfriend Save Man’s Life Mid-Flight

One nurse’s vacation ended in an unexpected way. But she and her boyfriend are heroes nonetheless.

Emily Raines and her boyfriend were returning home to Baltimore from a trip to the Bahamas. She is an acute care nurse. They were flying on a Southwest Airlines flight when an announcement came over the public addressed system looking for anyone with medical experience to help a fellow passenger.

The man had fallen unconscious on the flight and had no pulse. Raines Immediately jumped into action, as did her boyfriend.

“On our way up there I was trying to pregame, like, ‘Hey, if we have to do compressions, I need you to do compressions. I’ll take care of everything else,'” Raines recalled.

Raines performed several rounds of compressions and brought the man back to life.

“I would say about seven minutes before we landed is when we got him back to life,” she said. “We’re still not completely sure what happened. He didn’t have a heart attack, but his heart stopped.”

The man was immediately taken to a local hospital when the flight landed. Raines and her boyfriend left the plane to enthusiastic cheers and high-fives. And a memory she will never forget.

“We were amped because it’s so awesome to have that feeling, and afterward, you’re just like, ‘Oh wow. We did this. We saved somebody’s life!'” Raines said.