It’s almost impossible to anticipate what exactly will go down on your wedding day. We’ve seen situations range from the ring bearer misplacing the wedding bands, or the officiant running hours late. And one situation a bride from Pittsburgh most definitely didn’t see coming? Having to perform CPR on a complete stranger — in her wedding dress, no less.
Right after she said her “I do’s,” Julie Stroyne Nixon headed to the hotel where her reception was taking place to check in with her wedding party. As she began to cross the street, she heard someone scream, “Does anyone know CPR? Is anyone a doctor?” ABC News reported. What the bride saw as she got closer to the scene was a woman on a bench right outside of the hotel, struggling to breathe.
“My nursing instincts just took over,” Nixon, a trauma nurse at UPMC-Presbyterian hospital, told the news website. “To be honest I don’t remember running. I just threw my purse and my flowers and just went into action.” Eeeek, not the expensive bouquet!
On a day that was supposed to be all about her and her new husband, this selfless bride ended up saving a life — and in her wedding dress, no less! Thankfully, she was able to resuscitate the unresponsive woman before EMT and ambulance workers showed up to the scene, and described the frenzy by saying, “Somebody told me she didn’t have a pulse so I jumped into action and started doing compressions. It got stronger as I kept feeling for it which was a good sign. Her respirations were very shallow, but I think the action of me giving compressions kind of woke her up.”
The newlyweds haven’t gotten word on whether or not the woman Nixon performed CPR on is OK, but she’s just glad she could do her part to help. For now, the tennis-enthusiasts are off to Wimbledon next week for their honeymoon before heading over to Greece for a sun-soaked vacay. Which, TBH, is so well deserved.
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