(Memphis) When Memphis Firefighter and Paramedic Stephen Zacher spotted a runner in trouble while he was running the St. Jude Half Marathon Saturday, he put on the brakes and stopped to help, “I saw him stop and he started shaking a little bit and then he passed out completely on the side of the road.”
Zacher said the runner was 40 years-old.
Zacher stopped running and began to help, “I went up to him, I felt for a pulse. He was unconscious. I started talking to his wife to make sure he didn’t have any medical problems. I asked if he had eaten and drank like he was supposed to before hand.”
Zacher said the runner’s wife called 911 as another firefighter ran up, “I told him to hold his legs up. This guy was having a hard time maintaining a blood pressure probably due to dehydration.”
Zacher said he waited until the ambulance arrived and then finished the race. He said he was only doing in job, even off duty, “You have a duty to act and we were running for team Trey so we had fire department stuff on. If it was one of my family members and I knew there was a paramedic running behind them and they went down, I would expect them to stop too.”
