Dr. Thara Ali, a cardiologist fellow, was on her way to work at Dartmouth Hitchcock in Lebanon this past February when she noticed a vehicle off the road. Another driver was already doing CPR on the driver. Ali took over after explaining she was a doctor. Another driver pulled over with an AED in their vehicle, and Ali was able to shock the driver before EMTs arrived, transporting him to the hospital.Later, doctors determined the driver, Terry Dion, had suffered cardiac arrest behind the wheel and lost control of the car.They say he likely would have died if Ali was not in the right place at the right time. Dion characterizes her as his saving grace.“A miracle that she was there, a miracle,” he said. “She’s an angel on my shoulder. I thank her very much. I’m breathing three months later.”Ali said she was glad she was able to help.“It feels surreal, you know, because this is something I’m trained to do,” Ali said. “That I do very often here in the hospital, but to do it on the side of the road, in the mud, kneeling over. To see it make such a big difference, this is why we get into medicine. This is why we do what we do.”The city and the hospital held a celebration Thursday to honor Ali. It is just in time for National CPR and AED Awareness Week. Experts gathered said everyone should learn how to do CPR for instances just like this.
Dr. Thara Ali, a cardiologist fellow, was on her way to work at Dartmouth Hitchcock in Lebanon this past February when she noticed a vehicle off the road. Another driver was already doing CPR on the driver.
Ali took over after explaining she was a doctor. Another driver pulled over with an AED in their vehicle, and Ali was able to shock the driver before EMTs arrived, transporting him to the hospital.
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Later, doctors determined the driver, Terry Dion, had suffered cardiac arrest behind the wheel and lost control of the car.
They say he likely would have died if Ali was not in the right place at the right time. Dion characterizes her as his saving grace.
“A miracle that she was there, a miracle,” he said. “She’s an angel on my shoulder. I thank her very much. I’m breathing three months later.”
Ali said she was glad she was able to help.
“It feels surreal, you know, because this is something I’m trained to do,” Ali said. “That I do very often here in the hospital, but to do it on the side of the road, in the mud, kneeling over. To see it make such a big difference, this is why we get into medicine. This is why we do what we do.”
The city and the hospital held a celebration Thursday to honor Ali.
It is just in time for National CPR and AED Awareness Week. Experts gathered said everyone should learn how to do CPR for instances just like this.
