Family Wants to Thank Angel Who Saved Heart Attack Victim

FORT WASHINGTON, MD – A McLean, VA, man left the hospital Thursday, an unlikely survivor of a heart attack while driving.

Jorge Mondino’s life-saving angel is an unidentified physician who began CPR on Rt. 210 at Palmer Road in Fort Washington after Mondino’s heart stopped Dec. 12. The 73-year-old was driving alone when he was stricken and crashed his vehicle.

The Mondino family and Prince George’s County authorities want to find the nameless physician in scrubs and thank her for saving their husband and father.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to all of those who were involved,” said Marta Mondino, the victim’s wife. “The biggest we can get this season.”

Authorities know the doctor lives in Garret County, drives a red Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, and was passing through the area with her husband.

She’s described as a white woman, about 5 feet 5 inches tall, medium build, with dirty blonde hair down her back, and wore glasses.

Officer Dale Sollars – a former paramedic who raced to the scene to assist with CPR -- surmises the woman was driving right by the accident scene in the opposite traffic lanes and stopped to help. Police can’t confirm if she was a doctor.

“She got to him fast,” he said. “She seemed very competent in her abilities and remained calm, so that shows me that she’d probably done that sort of thing before.”

Mondino’s wife repeatedly tried to call her husband, worried about him after their phone call was cut off, and he didn’t answer. Later, she received a call from the hospital informing her of his heart attack and accident.

“My mom and I consider it really sort of a miracle, not only that my father would have survived, but that he is in such good condition, and we think that it is because of the folks that responded on the scene,” said his daughter, Jennifer Mondino. “They saved my father’s life, I can’t even begin to express how grateful we are.”

»Photos from Prince George’s County Police of Officer Dale Sollars with Jorge Mondino, and family members Jennifer and Marta Mondino