Keansburg Pharmacist Saves Woman's Life

KEANSBURG, NJ - How well does your pharmacist know you? Here is an incredible story out of Keansburg, where a local pharmacist saved a woman's life earlier in February:

Keansburg resident Katrina Thompson stopped into Ritesh’s Drugsmart Pharmacy on Main Street on the afternoon of Feb. 8. Thompson, 37, has been a customer of the pharmacy for the past 6 years and she and pharmacist Ritesh Shah have a friendly relationship.

Thompson had been walking home from a nearby pizza place when all of a sudden, “Everything started to get hazy, like I was going to black out and fall down,” she told the Asbury Park Press, which originally reported the story. “I was like, ‘This doesn’t feel right.' I kept complaining that my back hurt and I was feeling really tired. I wanted to go to sleep."

According to the article, Shah immediately took her blood pressure, and it came back 43 over 32 — extremely, extremely low. He called 911 and told Thompson, "Please stay with us. Don’t go to sleep. You’ll go into a coma.’”

Incredibly, Shah then told his cashier to run next door to Gem's House of Bagels to get salt.

“I was taught in pharmacy school that sodium tablets and salt water lift up a blood pressure,” Shah told the Asbury Park Press. “So we gave her salt and kept her alert, constantly talking to her.”

The infusion of salt was enough to bring Thompson's blood pressure back up until the ambulance arrived and she could be rushed to Bayshore Community Hospital, where doctors discovered a blood clot in her right lung. She has a history of similar health problems, including a rapid heart rate and a blood clot in her right arm. She was hospitalized for five days and returned to her local pharmacy this week to thank Shah and his staff for saving her life.

Shah, 43, also owns pharmacies in Holmdel and Howell and is opening one in Red Bank next month. Read the original article: This Keansburg pharmacist saved a customer's life