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Sugar Land man searching for Good Samaritan who saved his life
A Sugar Land man is hoping to find the Good Samaritan who saved his life when he was suffering a seizure.
SUGAR LAND, Texas - We're on the lookout for a good Samaritan in the Houston area, and we're hoping you can help us!
Someone stopped to help a man on a busy road in Sugar Land last month, after he had a seizure. He was having a medical emergency, when he walked into oncoming traffic. A man rushed to save him from a devastating fate. Now, he and his doctor at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic want to know who his angel on earth is.
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Imagine driving down a busy highway when all of a sudden you have no idea where you are or what you're doing.
"The next thing I remember is being slapped in the face by an EMT in an ambulance, on my way to the hospital," exclaims David Atwood.
David began aimlessly driving on June 10, nowhere near where he thought he was going. Then he pulled over his car, got out and started walking into oncoming traffic. That is, until a man pulled over and raced to his rescue.
"I'm alive because of that, I'm sure. I was at the southbound feeder of 59 at Highway 90, and I would have walked out into that road around 10 a.m. I would be dead. I'd have gotten run over by a car. And so that person, I owe that person my life, whoever it is," says David. He'd love to know who it is!
David's neurologist at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic explains how this was truly an "out of the blue" experience for David.
"He had never had any history of seizures or any other medical problems like this or episodes where he had lost consciousness, so this was all new to him. Once he was in the hospital, they ran a series of tests including EEG, which is a brain wave test, and they were able to determine that he had had a seizure," says Dr. Desiree Thomas, Neurologist with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic.
David had a lot to live for and was anxious to overcome the emotional experience he went through. He's a loving husband and dad, not only to his children but all of his fur babies. He's in awe that a good Samaritan quickly came up with the idea to reach out to his wife during that ordeal.
"He got me back in the car and made me sit down. He got into my cell phone through the Car Play in my car and called my wife to tell her that something was wrong. And then she had to come to where the car was and get it moved, and the policeman then told her where I was going," says David.
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David was in desperate need of that guy during his helpless moments.
"I couldn't remember the day of the week, the month, or year. I couldn't remember my last name," says David, and that went on for about four hours.
Dr. Desiree Thomas wants to make sure everyone realizes it's not always obvious that someone is having a seizure.
"A lot of times people think that seizures is you fall over and you foaming at the mouth and you shake, but sometimes before that happens, people will just be confused. They don't quite know where they are, they don't know their surroundings, they could have difficulty like he did. They're trying to drive and they get lost while they're driving. They might have something very minor to some twitching of their face or some twitching in their hand, or just not be able to respond to people, and so it's but it's an all of a sudden thing. One minute you're fine and then next minute you have these symptoms," explains Dr. Thomas.
She says patients also often bite their tongue or lose bladder function, so those would be obvious signs. You can't help but wonder why someone would suffer from these symptoms.
"It can just happen out of the blue. Seizures happen because of an electrical problem with the brain so it can happen, but it can also happen because your sugar is too high or low or there's an electrolyte problem. Sometimes a new medicine could do it, a stroke, a brain tumor or something going on with the brain," says Dr. Thomas.
They're still trying to figure out why David went through this, but he says he's doing well now and taking medication to help keep him seizure-free. He gets to enjoy time with his family again. By law, he must take a three-month break from driving, to make sure he remains seizure-free.
If you are the person who helped David, or know who is, please reach out to us, as we'd love to help you meet up with David again. Reach out to Melissa Wilson on her Facebook page.
For more information on signs of a seizure, click here.