Trucker and 25-year volunteer fireman Art Lucas performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation to revive an unconcious woman.
After Art Lucas delivered a sculpture commemorating heroism in New York City in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedy, the seasoned trucker stopped at a Ghent, N.Y., restaurant because it had truck parking.
That small decision resulted in the volunteer fireman saving a stranger’s life, and his carrier, ABF Freight System, awarding him its first Medal of Excellence for an extraordinary deed of a life-changing nature.
On Sept. 3, 2003, the 49-year-old Akron, N.Y., resident was returning from delivering the three-ton sculpture to the New York State Firemen’s Home and Museum in Hudson. The sculpture’s creator, Brian Pfeiffer, Lucas’ close friend, was traveling with him.
After they sat down in the restaurant, employees came out of the kitchen and asked if anyone knew CPR. A waitress had fallen and hit her head, which resulted in her biting her tongue hard. She was now unconscious and bleeding profusely from the mouth.
“She was pulse-less and wasn’t breathing,” Lucas says.
The Advanced Emergency Medical Technician cleared the woman’s airway and began performing CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, with Pfeiffer assisting. Paramedics later credited Lucas with saving her life.
