As cliché as it might sound, a DoorDash delivery driver was in the right place at the right time when she arrived at one of her final addresses for the night and ended up saving a woman’s life.
Sophia Furtado, 26, who had EMT training, knew exactly what to do when she saw Caryn Hebert Sullivan lying on the ground with a cut on her head.
And it’s because of her quick-thinking, Sullivan is alive today.
It was an ordinary Friday night in early February. Sullivan had ordered a pizza for delivery and Furtado was finishing up her shift as a DoorDasher.
Furtado arrived at Sullivan’s home in West Island Fairhaven, Massachusetts around 10 p.m. and found Sullivan unconscious outside of her house.
The 26-year-old noticed Sullivan was bleeding from her head and estimated she had fallen about 15 to 20 minutes earlier. She rushed inside and called for help. Sullivan’s husband woke up and helped Furtado by gathering supplies.
“She advised Robert what materials she needed. Robert was emotional as his wife was not responding to them, but Robert grabbed the supplies Sophia requested,” Fairhaven Police Department officer Jillian Jodoin told TODAY.
Furtado called 911 and began rendering aid.
“Caryn was unresponsive, and her eyes kept rolling to the back of her head,” Furtado told CNN. “I felt like I was going to lose her.”
But thanks to Furtado, Sullivan survived.
Once paramedics arrived on scene, they transported her to the hospital where she would undergo emergency surgery for two severe brain bleeds.
“The attending doctor was adamant that had there been any delay in her care she would have succumbed to her injuries,” Jodoin said.
Sullivan stayed in the hospital for several weeks, and she was finally discharged at the end of March when she was declared fully recovered.
The two women have kept in contact ever since their encounter in early February.
Recently, Furtado was honored for saving Sullivan’s life. She received an award from the Fairhaven Police Department as well a $1,000 educational grant from DoorDash.
“What Sophia did that night is not something anyone would just do. We have all worked long enough in this field to have seen people walk away, run away, drive away, pull out their phone, or simply just watch,” Jodoin said. “She saved a life.”
“I am so thankful for her, she’s my guardian angel,” Sullivan said, “Thank God she was there, if she wasn’t there, I’d be dead.”
Sophia, you are a hero! We need more people like you to step up and help when they see someone in desperate need of help.
Please share this inspiring story.