METRO's Board of Directors and staff gave Oscar Juracan a standing ovation during this morning's meeting. Juracan, a bus operator and American Cross CPR-certified driver, saved a passenger's life.
"I pulled over and walked to the back of the bus. When I walked to the back, I saw this lady trying to wake up a male passenger. She was crying and didn't talk. She was shaking him. I asked, ‘Tell me what happened?' She said, ‘My husband passed away. He won't respond.'"
Juracan almost didn't go to work April 5 after a long morning doing volunteer work, but he followed his gut instinct and took the wheel for route 44.
The 45-year old recently took a refresher CPR course. He quickly looked for the customer's pulse and when he didn't find one, he performed the live-saving technique for 18 minutes while awaiting EMS to arrive. The passenger started coughing and screamed for his wife.
Turns out the passenger suffered a heart attack, and the doctor informed him that had he not received CPR at that moment, he would have died.
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"I just have gratitude in my heart because I had the privilege of saving a life,"he continued. "The Lord used me to save a life. What I learned is that I have to enjoy every second that I have right now because you never know what's going to happen - when life might end." |
Juracan was recently featured in our Write on METRO blog. For more details on this Hero on Wheels, click here.
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