'Something You're Born With': 4 Women's Life-Saving Honored By Plainfield First Responders

PLAINFIELD, IL — Four women took it into their hands to save the life of a C.W. Avery Family YMCA member who suffered a "serious medical emergency" while swimming laps Dec. 29.

Those heroic efforts were honored at the Plainfield Village Board meeting Monday night when lifeguards Alexis Fuqua and Kelly Michael, Aquatics Director Cindy Moss and team member Lauren Teper were presented with Life Saving Awards from the Plainfield Police Department and Plainfield Fire Protection District.

To make it extra special, Mary Joe, the woman whose life was saved, attended the meeting and handed the three women — Fuqua was unable to attend — their awards.

The police and fire chiefs spoke to her ahead of the meeting and she agreed to take part in it, wanting to share her thanks, too, Stratton said.

"It was probably one of the nicest ceremonies we've had, being able to honor someone's service in town," Fire Chief Jon Stratton told Patch.

The YMCA member was swimming in the pool around 7:50 a.m. Dec. 29 when Fuqua and Michael, the on-duty lifeguards at the time, noticed the woman's speed decreasing and movements becoming irregular. When they tapped her on the shoulder to check in on her, she said she was OK, prompting the two women to step back but continue keeping an eye on her.

A few moments later, the woman stopped moving and "completely went underwater" — she was no longer conscious or breathing, Police Chief Robert Miller said at the meeting.

"I can tell you right now with 100 percent certainty that without their intervention the outcome would have been very bad," Stratton told Patch.

As staff waited for first responders to arrive, Fuqua and Michael began performing CPR while Moss and Teper hooked up an automated external defibrillator and provided rescue breaths, respectively. They continued resuscitating the woman until paramedics and police officers arrived, Miller said.

She soon began breathing on her own and was semi-conscious as she was being taken to Rush Copley Medical Center, where she regained full consciousness.

Of the YMCA staffers' life-saving instincts, Stratton said, "Knowing things were changing and recognizing that and being next to her is remarkable. That's something you're born with — it's instinctive. ... That doesn't happen often."

Stratton, who was originally on vacation when he got a call from Miller about attending the award ceremony — made a trip back to Plainfield early just to make the meeting.

"I'm not going to miss something like that," he said.