Jerry Johnston and Taj Melson work in the same city but had never met until Tuesday morning.
It was in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, and only for a few minutes. They left the chance meeting not even knowing the other's name, although for a few brief moments, the two were inextricably tied as Melson worked to save Johnston's life.Johnston is a religion writer and columnist for the Deseret News who was returning from an assignment in Bolivia. Melson is a hockey player for the Utah Grizzlies returning to Utah after losing two playoff games in Houston.
Both stopped in the airport just briefly to catch connecting flights to Salt Lake City. While hurrying to board the airplane, Johnston collapsed into the arms of the ticketing agent.
Melson stood in line one person behind Johnston, and he said it looked, for a moment, as if the man regained his composure.
"Then he started to fall backwards," Melson said Wednesday morning. "Another man and I grabbed a hold of him and laid him on the ground.
"As he went down, you could tell he was scared," Melson said. "My first inclination was to find out if he was a diabetic. He said no. Then he started to seize."
Both Melson and the other man tried to find a pulse on Johnston. They could not.
"Then the other gentleman started compressions," Melson said. "I was asking for a ventilator bag."
Melson had training in CPR in college and is just two classes from a degree in biomedical science. He'd done an internship in a hospital in St. Cloud, Minn., and had performed CPR twice -- unsuccessfully -- before. Both incidents involved car accidents.
After using the ventilator bag on Johnston, he asked if the airline had an automated external defibrillator, and when it was handed to him, he placed the paddles on Johnston's chest.
"It told us that he had a shockable rhythm," Melson said. After two jolts, Johnston woke up. Melson boarded the plane with the rest of the team, and the 52-year-old writer was taken to a Dallas hospital where he remains in serious condition.
Doctors plan to run tests on Johnston Wednesday hoping to find out why his heart stopped. Johnston just wants to return to Utah by Friday so he can see his son graduate from Utah State on Saturday.
Melson is nonchalant about his efforts Tuesday.
"I'm trained for it," he said. "I think it's just kind of something you do. I'm just happy so many people close by knew what to do. And that we had a good outcome. You don't always have a good outcome with these types of things."
He said he'd like to go into medicine when he finishes playing hockey. Like Johnston, Melson is focused on his own life and the fact that his team needs to win tonight or be eliminated from the Turner Cup Playoffs.
He hasn't thought much about what happened and doesn't know how he feels about saving another person's life.
"I'm just happy the guy is OK," he said. "I'm actually concerned with winning tonight . . . I probably won't ever think about it again."
You can reach Amy Donaldson by e-mail at adonaldson@desnews.com