Bystander Gives CPR To Accident Victim In St. Charles

ST. CHARLES, IL — Around 4:45 p.m. on Monday, Kate Dzierzanowski was at her 2020 Dean St. office building when she heard a car accident. She went outside to see what happened, and a bit of training kicked in.

"I came out to see a [light] pole down and see the car hit the guardrail," she said, according to the Kane County Chronicle. She told people in the office to call 911 then approached the vehicle.

Dzierzanowski said the driver's head was leaned back with his eyes closed, and somebody at the scene said he didn't have a pulse. Two men then dragged the victim from the vehicle and Dzierzanowski gave him CPR.

The Chronicle reported her as saying "Someone said, ‘Who knows CPR?” And I said, ‘I do,’ and I did it." She was certified as a part of her employer's push to certify staff in CPR.

The victim of the accident was taken to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, though their condition is unknown.

St. Charles Deputy Police Chief David Kintz said the accident was caused by a "medical event," according to the Chronicle, and the car veered off the road, taking down the light pole and hitting a guardrail.

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