A chance encounter at last weekend’s NFL playoff game in Cincinnati, Ohio, has a family calling a Dallas nurse "a saint" after he stepped in to help save a grandfather who went into cardiac arrest.
Jerry Mills and Noah Harsh reunited Wednesday over zoom for the first time since a medical emergency brought them together.
“Noah! What’s going on,” exclaimed Mills via zoom. “How’s grandpa doing?”
“He’s doing good,” responded Harsh. “He’s alive and awake and he’s back to his normal self, making small jokes.”
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Dallas VA nurse Mills snagged tickets to watch his beloved Bengals take on the Raiders back home in Cincinnati.
His brother-in-law is the running back coach for the Bengals and offered him the tickets, he said.
Mills was lucky enough to be allowed to take time off of work to fly home to Ohio for the game.
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Meanwhile, Harsh had surprised his grandfather, a diehard Raiders fan, with tickets to the playoff game for Christmas.
During their walk to Paul Brown Stadium, the 78-year-old had been out of breath a few times, according to his grandson.
Edward Fernandes suddenly collapsed hitting his head on the ground.
He had gone into cardiac arrest.
“I was shocked,” said Harsh. “I had I had a 9-1 dialed in the phone and Jerry came rushed over and just started doing his thing.”
Nurse Mills, a former firefighter, happened to be returning to his car to drop off a sweater.
“They're like ‘he’s having a seizure’ and I'm like ‘that's not a seizure, y’all,’” said Mills. “let's start some CPR.”
Mills performed CPR twice with the help of another nurse before more help arrived.
He credits his experience as a firefighter for being able to quickly distinguish between a seizure and a heart attack.
Fernandes was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered a problem with a valve and three blockages in his heart.
Harsh says his grandfather had been seen by a doctor about an issue with a valve, but the blockage was a surprise.
“’Perfect time, perfect place. You beat all the odds,” Harsh recalled. “That's literally what the surgeon said to us yesterday.”
He says his grandfather is in good spirits and is preparing to undergo surgery on Thursday.
“My grandpa Edward thinks you're a hero,” Harsh said to Mills. “As soon as he's recovered, he literally said ‘I want to talk to him…’ Our family is so thankful for you. We can’t say ‘thank you’ enough.”
Mills says since his grandparents on both sides of his family have passed away, he now feels he has a new grandfather.
The strangers on opposing teams turned family, hope to inspire others to lookout for each other.
“If we just put aside all our differences and really just start to care for one another wholeheartedly as humans, I think a lot of this that we deal with daily wouldn't be so bad,” said Mills.
“What jersey you're wearing, it doesn't matter,” added Harsh. “You're the same person inside not outside, so no matter what we're always there for each other it's the game of life that matters.”
