Former NFL player, in viral post, thanks nurses for saving man's life on Delta flight: 'Those 2 ladies were a blessing today'
A former NFL wide receiver took to Instagram to thank people for their “acts of professionalism and medical response given” to an unwell passenger on a recent airline flight.
Terrell Owens, who played in the NFL for 16 seasons, posted a photo to his feed on Sunday featuring two women, who he says saved a man’s life on his Delta Air Lines flight to Los Angeles.
“I wanted to take this time to give them BIG THANKS for their immediate and medical response along with the ladies of the @delta flight crew,” Owens wrote in the caption for the photo, which has already racked up more than 25.6K likes. “When I first took notice to what was going on some 4 rows in front of me it did not look good for the gentleman but those 2 ladies were a blessing today.”
Owens’ post goes on to describe how the women were able to stabilize the man, and the plane made an emergency landing in Albuquerque, N.M., for him to get further medical attention.
ABC7 identifies one of the women as Hannah Donaldson, a “cardiac registered nurse at Sarasota Memorial Hospital,” located in Sarasota, Fla., but it is uncertain who the other medical professional was.
Donaldson told the channel that the plane was equipped with a medical emergency bag, medical oxygen and IV fluids. While representatives from Delta Air Lines did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment, Donaldson told ABC7 that the airline staffers were “awesome” in providing them with “everything they had available.”
Donaldson was surprised when she saw the footballer’s post, and said the only reason she even came across is was because her brother-in-law asked Owens for a photo after landing, and she looked him up online.
“The first thing that popped up on Google was the post that he had made regarding the emergency,” she told ABC7. “And I was shocked.”
Hundreds of people commented on the Instagram post, many talking about how nurses aren’t under the spotlight often enough for the important work they do.
“As a nurse myself, it is rare that healthcare professionals get this kind of recognition and truthfully we don’t expect it,” one person wrote. “Always makes me so proud to see posts like this because this is why most of us got into this profession... to save lives”
Another added, “Nurses taking charge!! Way to go ladies, selfless and intelligent, calm and taking charge.”
Hannah Donaldson did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.
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