CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A Charlotte woman is credited with saving the life of an elderly man who apparently had a heart attack while driving on I-85 on Christmas day.
The woman, Shahida McIntyre, was driving with her three young daughters around 2:30 on Thursday afternoon when she saw a black Lexus sedan swerve and run into the concrete median before wrecking. While the wreck wasn't itself very serious, the man was slumped over in the seat.
She pulled over when she saw the accident and ran to help. The driver, Robert Steen, was in the car but the doors were locked - and Steen was changing colors in the seat according to McIntyre. "He wasn't responding, I knocked on all the windows," McIntyre said.
The woman thought quickly and grabbed a baseball bat from her car she uses for protection. She swung at the window twice when her bat broke. She picked up the broken end an swung one more time which finally caused the window to give way.
"I cleared the glass, dropped the bat and went in for him," McIntyre said. The woman dragged the 80-year-old out of the car by his pants waist and laid him on the side of the interstate and started CPR.
"I just kept pumping and kept counting, until finally help arrived," McIntyre said.
McIntyre, who is a certified CPR instructor, continued until paramedics came on scene. The emergency workers were able to get a pulse from Steen and transport him to the hospital. At last check, he was in critical condition.
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