The city of Denton is honoring a group of heroes. They are library workers who saved a man's life. Those being honored are a humble bunch, who say they just did, what anyone should.
At Denton's Emily Fowler Library, Robert Mitchell's face is one of the first you'll see. Manning the front desk, he likes the interaction, and the variety.
“You never know what you're going to encounter day to day,” said Mitchell. “People think it's a lot of ‘shhh, be quiet.’ But there's a lot going on."
Never more so than a hot summer day last month.
“I was over here and somebody said something's going on out front,” said Laura Douglas, a senior librarian who was at the special collections desk.
“I noticed a gentleman sitting on the bench,” said Mitchell. “A few minutes later, I noticed he was slumped over."
What happened next was a true team effort.
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“I'm starting compression,” recalled Mitchell. “Someone's holding his head, making sure his airway is open."
Douglas grabbed the AED machine.
“He wasn’t responsive,” she said. “It was three minutes that seemed to last like 30."
Three minutes of work, which saved the man's life.
“When I got out there, I didn't think twice about it,” said Mitchell. “I just did what came natural from the training."
Training, which is required for every city of Denton employee.
“You hope you never have to use it,” said Douglas. “It's like car insurance. You don't ever want to use this training, but when you have to, it's very valuable."
The man found on that bench is now recovering, say library officials. His angels, described as heroes. Humbled, it's a description they resist.
“You just do what you're supposed to do,” said Mitchell. “I have family and I'd like to think someone would do the same thing for my family."
Denton city council was scheduled to honor Mitchell, Douglas, and several others who saved the man’s life, at the Tuesday city council meeting.
“It's one of those things you don’t feel like you need recognition for,” said Douglas. “I mean, what would you have done? Someone's life was in the balance. You're going to do what you need to do to take care of the situation."
