'She was my guardian angel', Fairhaven woman saved by DoorDasher
FAIRHAVEN, Mass. (WJAR) — A DoorDash delivery driver in Massachusetts is being credited with saving a life after she got to her delivery stop and found the customer unconscious.
Back in February, Caryn Hebert Sullivan and her husband got back to their West Island home from a gathering with friends and placed an order for pizza from Papa Gino's.
Her husband fell asleep while waiting for their food, so she went outside to meet the driver when they arrived.
"While I was standing there, my knee let go and my arm let go. I don't really remember too much. I remember falling and seeing a lot of white in my face," said Hebert Sullivan.
She told NBC 10 News she's had knee problems for a while.
The DoorDash driver found Hebert Sullivan laying outside unconscious and bleeding from her head.
"I immediately freaked out, so I go into the house and go get her husband I said, 'Your wife is at the bottom of the steps and bleeding really badly!" explained 26-year-old Sophia Furtado.
Furtado, from New Bedford, called 911.
She yelled for towels and a blanket, and implemented what she learned from school.
"I'm holding her head, trying to hold C-spine because I know she fell hard so I didn't want her, God forbid, later down the road be paralyzed," said Furtado.
Hebert Sullivan was hospitalized for three weeks with a traumatic brain injury.
She has staples and stitches on her head, but EMTs say if Sophia hadn't done what she did, when she did, it would've been worse for Hebert Sullivan.
"She was my guardian angel," she said. "If I didn't have her, I'd probably be dead."
Furtado told NBC 10 she went to school to be an EMT.
"I actually wanted to be an EMT but unfortunately with kids and life took it's own course, I had to make that sacrifice," she said.
Furtado was awarded for her heroic actions on Wednesday.
She got a plaque from Fairhaven police, a pin from Hebert Sullivan and her family, and a scholarship from DoorDash.
"They awarded me $,1000 to go to an EMT school, so hopefully down the road I'll be able to use that," said Furtado.
Hebert Sullivan and Furtado have built a friendship and bond and plan to stay in touch.