A nursing student in New York is being hailed a hero for her quick actions that helped save a 71-year-old man’s life after he collapsed while snow blowing his driveway.

Hailey Hickey, a nursing student at Molloy College, was visiting her friend in West Islip around 8.30 p.m. Saturday when her friend’s father rushed into the house and told them that their neighbor had collapsed. She rushed to help the elderly man and checked him for a pulse and his breathing. "He, unfortunately, didn't have anything," Hickey was cited as saying by WABC-TV.

Hickey performed CPR on the man and the other neighbors began shoveling snow off the road to help the ambulance reach the septuagenarian fast.

"I did a couple rounds of CPR on him and he was gasping for air and I got a slight pulse back," Hickey told News 12. "It was really scary and I just kept on hoping the ambulance would get there as quick as possible but the roads were so bad."

About 10 minutes into Hickey’s attempt to help the man breathe, two Suffolk County police officers, Terence Slane and Tristen David, arrived at the scene. They helped Hickey perform CPR on the elderly man.

Paramedics responded to the scene shortly after. They used an automated external defibrillator to resuscitate the victim before rushing him to the hospital. The man is said to be in critical condition, but has been listed stable, the outlet reported.

Hickey and the officers' continuous efforts to save the man's life were lauded by neighbors.

Dr. Evelina Grayver, the Director of the Coronary Intensive Care Unit at North Shore University Hospital, said that over the weekend she treated around seven patients who had suffered a massive heart attack while shoveling snow. She believes the attacks might have taken place due to people getting out of shape during the pandemic or having suffered from cardiovascular damage caused by COVID-19 infection.

"Going outside and doing a significant strenuous event like shoveling could definitely be detrimental," Grayver was quoted as saying by WABC-TV.

She said people should not carry out strenuous activities like shoveling snow on a full stomach as the heart is working hard on the digestion process. She also suggested taking relaxing breaks while shoveling.

A man uses a snow blower to clear snow at a strip mall in Stony Brook, New York during a blizzard that hit the Northeastern United States on January 29, 2022
Blizzard conditions are expected in some parts of the country until Thursday as the U.S. braces for severe weather conditions. In photo: a man uses a snow blower to clear snow at a strip mall in Stony Brook, New York during a blizzard that hit the Northeastern United States on January 29, 2022. GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA via AFP / Andrew Theodorakis
RELATED STORIES
New York