NCDOT employees Timmy Horne (left) and Steven Lane (right) helped save the life of a man who suffered a heart attack.
WILSON – Steven Lane spotted a man lying along the shoulder where a pickup had come to an abrupt stop facing the wrong direction on Interstate 795 this week. Two other men stood over him, distraught.
Lane had nudged his co-worker, Timmy Horne, who was driving, and said he thought the unconscious man was having a heart attack. The N.C. Department of Transportation employees were returning to a Goldsboro maintenance yard after delivering equipment in Wilson.
Horne pulled over and flipped on his emergency lights. Both men jumped out of the yellow truck.
"I just happened to be in that window of opportunity to save him,” Horne later said. “It was a team effort.”
Horne is a long-time volunteer firefighter in Johnston County who knows CPR. NCDOT also provides first-aid and CPR training to employees.
The stranger had gone into cardiac arrest when he wrecked his Toyota Tacoma pickup around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday on the interstate just south of Wilson. Two passersby stopped to help and were on the phone with 911. But they were unfamiliar with administering CPR.
Horne began performing chest compressions, then Lane took over for a few minutes. When Horne resumed doing compressions, the stranger’s pulse and color returned, just as an emergency rescue squad arrived. The man was later treated at an area hospital.
Lane and Horne will be nominated for the Extra Mile Award, an honor that recognizes NCDOT employees for exceeding their duties. Horne is the Wayne County bridge maintenance supervisor for the department’s Division 4, and Lane is a bridge crew supervisor for Horne.
Horne, reluctant to seek any limelight, said the experience is a good reminder that people should learn CPR. The four-hour course can be completed through a local American Red Cross chapter, he said.
“It can make a real difference,” Horne said.