A Tarrant County father who had a heart problem and passed out while driving on busy Highway 114 is thanking the first responders in Southlake who saved his life.
"I do not remember the accident itself," Brent McCartney said.
McCartney, 47, of Keller, was driving his daughter to a birthday party last summer, heading east on Texas Highway 114, when he suddenly crashed into the median.
His daughter Elizabeth, 14, was in the passenger seat.
"His eyes were closed and he was leaning over," Elizabeth McCartney said. "And I knew in that moment that I needed to do something and whatever I did was the most important thing that I could do."
She called 911.
"I was surprised someone was there as fast as they were," she said.
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Officers arrived within a few minutes, she got out of the car and they swung into action.
An officer's body camera captured the actual rescue.
"Can you get the belt?" one officer asks another.
Officers had to unbuckle his seat belt and figure out how to get him safely out of the car with him unconscious.
Turns out, he had a cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped beating.
Officers pulled McCartney onto the blocked highway lane.
Cpl. Preston Logan, a 7-year veteran, knew just what to do.
"I looked at him and said, 'We need CPR now,'" Logan recalled Tuesday.
He continued CPR until medics arrived a short time later.
"This is what drives us," Logan said. "This is what motivates us to do what we do every single day."
McCartney directs the choir at Azle High School. Not going back to his job or his family wasn't an option. He spent two weeks in the hospital and six months in rehabilitation.
"I wouldn't be here without you," McCartney said in a ceremony at the Southlake Department of Public Safety. "So thank you very much."
His daughter echoed his feelings.
"I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart because without all the hard work that every single individual did, I would not be able to have my entire family with me here today," Elizabeth McCartney said.
The officers and medics said this is why they do what they do – not for the money but for the satisfaction of helping people.
"Being a part of this has been a thrill and I'm just really proud," Preston said. "It really is beautiful. I think that's the right word for it. And I'm glad we're here today to celebrate that."
