A Massachusetts delivery driver who saved the life of a woman to whom she was delivering pizza has been given a $1,000 educational grant by her employer and praised by the police for her bravery and quick thinking.
The incident happened on 11 February, but was reported on recently.
Caryn Hebert Sullivan had ordered a late-night pizza and was waiting outside her home in West Island Fairhaven on Buzzards Bay, when her knee gave way, making her fall.
When DoorDash driver Sophia Furtado reached the house, she found Ms Sullivan lying outside on the ground, bleeding from the head.
“Caryn was unresponsive, and her eyes kept rolling to the back of her head,” Ms Furtado was quoted as saying.
“I felt like I was going to lose her.”
“I just remember laying on my driveway thinking ‘This is pretty much over’,” Ms Sullivan said.
“I was laying there and saw a lot of white clouds.”
Ms Furtado, who had trained as an an Emergency Medical Technician but failed the National Registry test, called Ms Sullivan’s husband who was sleeping upstairs and asked him to alert 911.
Fairhaven police officials said the DoorDash driver spoke with the 911 call dispatcher while rendering aid to Ms Sullivan.
“At that moment Sophia became a part of our team to aid Caryn,” officer Jillian Jodoin told CNN.
“I asked her if it was possible for her to keep stabilising Caryn’s neck to keep her spine safe, her answer was, ‘I’m not going anywhere’.”
Ms Furtado stayed with Ms Sullivan till emergency services arrived and transported her to the hospital where she spent three weeks after suffering two severe brain bleeds.
“I am so thankful for her, she’s my guardian angel,” Ms Sullivan said.
“Thank God she was there, if she wasn’t there, I’d be dead.”
The two have remained in touch and even met each other’s families.
Ms Furtado was bestowed the grant by DoorDash’s chief executive Tony Xu and felicitated by the Fairhaven police department on 20 April, the company said in a Facebook post.
“I was not expecting it at all,” Ms Furtado said. “I would’ve done that for anyone.”
DoorDash also issued a statement and lauded Ms Furtado for her quick thinking during the incident.
“We are incredibly grateful to Ms Furtado for stepping in during a critical moment and are relieved that the customer has since safely recovered,” a DoorDash spokesperson said.
“Ms Furtado’s care and quick response were nothing short of heroic and we are honored to have been able to show our appreciation for her tremendous efforts.”
