NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio — A pharmacist in Tuscarawas County is being hailed a hero after saving the life of a customer.
The dramatic rescue happened inside a Discount Drug Mart store in New Philadelphia on June 27.
Shortly after stepping into store, 67-year-old Barb Davis started feeling off. She tried to call her husband, who was waiting in the parking lot.
"Trying to get my phone out of my purse to call him to come in and help me and I don't think I got my phone out of my purse before I went down," Davis said.
An employee alerted Bryan Greenwood, the pharmacist, that a customer needed help.
Davis had no pulse and was in cardiac arrest.
"There's no one else here to do it. I've got to be the man to do that, so you know, just rise to the occasion and you have to take charge," Greenwood said.
He did just that.
Within seconds, Greenwood started performing CPR—three sets of chest compressions and rescue breathing.
His actions revived Davis.
"She opened her eyes and took a breath," Greenwood said.
Rescue crews arrived a short time later and continued CPR, rushing her to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital in Canton.
Back at the pharmacy, Greenwood learned a few hours later that Davis survived.
"It's very gratifying when you save someone's life. I mean, you don't really think about that. It's easier to say than to feel," Greenwood said.
"And if you believe in God, you think that God maybe put everybody in place that were supposed to be there to help you out," Davis said.
Since that day, Davis has thanked her pharmacist hero multiple times, and did again inside the store on Thursday.
"It's hard to talk about. Yeah, to think that you couldn't be here. That's a lot to take in," she said while fighting back tears.
Davis is doing well. She now has pacemaker and an implantable defibrillator. She also has a second chance at life and a friendship that will last for the rest of her days.
"We friended on Facebook, and she's a wonderful woman, and I think we get along," Greenwood said.
After what they went through together, their hugs feel extra special.
"I think he needs the recognition, and everybody knows what he did, but he just jumped into action and saved somebody he didn't have any idea who they were," Davis said. "If it weren't for Bryan, I wouldn't still be here. I heard that many, many times."
