[Torri’ell Norwood (in the back) poses for a selfie with A’zarria Simmons. Norwood performed CPR on Simmons after a car accident on February 20. Photo via CNN.com]
Torri’ell Norwood, 17, saved the life of her best friend A’zarria Simmons, 16, just one day after learning basic life support in class at her high school, Lakewood High, according to cnn.com.
Norwood was driving three friends home in St. Petersburg, Florida, on February 20 of this year when another driver slammed into her from her left and sent her car careening.
The impact jammed shut the driver’s side door, so Norwood climbed out the front window. Two of her friends managed to get out of the car unharmed, but the collision caused Simmons to hit her head on the backseat window.
“When I turned around, I didn’t see A’zarria running with us,” Norwood told CNN. “So, I had to run back to the car as fast as I can. She was just sitting there unresponsive.”
And that’s when the training Norwood had just learned kicked in. She pulled Simmons out of the back seat, avoiding broken glass from the window.
“That’s when I checked her pulse on her neck. I put my head against her chest, and I didn’t really hear nothing. So that’s when I just started doing CPR on her.”
After the 30 compressions and two rescue breaths, Simmons regained consciousness. Paramedics quickly arrived and rushed her to the hospital, where she received stitches for a gash in her forehead.
“I don’t remember the hit or anything about accident. But when I woke up, I was in the hospital. I was in shock. I was trying to figure out how I got there,” Simmons said.
Norwood participates in Lakewood’s Athletic Lifestyle Management Academy. The program exists to prepare students for varied careers in the health sciences.
Thanks to Norwood’s quick thinking,CPR lesson retention and heroic actions, Simmons is recovering well. Both friends plan to pursue careers in the medical field.
“I do want to be a nurse,” Norwood said. “I know that if somebody was in need of help, I’d go to the rescue.”
The Laval Police Department in Quebec with 17-year-old Malyk Bonnet, a restaurant cook, who rescued a woman who had been abducted by her dangerous ex-boyfriend. (photo via Laval Police Department)
A teenager has been hailed a hero after helping a kidnapped woman escape from the clutches of her ex-boyfriend. Police praised Malyk Bonnet, 17, after his quick thinking saved the woman’s life when he stayed with her until he could alert police.
Humble Bonnet initially laughed off the plaudits, but said: “Now I realize what I did and wow…it’s really awesome. I mean, I saved a life!”
On August 1, Bonnet was waiting for a bus home after finishing his shift as a cook at a restaurant in Montreal when he noticed the couple arguing, reported CBC News. The couple asked him for money to take the bus, and he agreed to get some change at a convenience store and give them some money.
Bonnet had a moment alone with the terrified woman and decided he had to help rescue her. “My plan was to keep them in a public place, where there’s a lot of people. I decided to make myself friendly with the man, so he would trust me. So I played my game,” Bonnet said.
Police were already looking for the woman and described the man as “very dangerous,” said Laval police Lt. Daniel Guérin. Guérin said the man had already been found guilty of assault and death threats against his ex-girlfriend last year, and he was under a court order to stay away from her.
Bonnet waiting for the right moment and took the couple for food in order to keep them in a public place. After his cellphone battery had died, he pretended to go to the washroom and borrowed a phone from someone in the restaurant to call police, who arrived within minutes.
Bonnet said the abducted woman was overcome with relief and added: “She was almost crying. She was so happy, so happy not to be with him.”
Police arrested the man on the spot and he appeared in court Monday on charges of kidnapping, forcible confinement and assault. Lt. Guérin said Laval police now intend to nominate Bonnet for a provincial award for bravery and added: “He managed the situation very well and took good decisions that probably saved the life of this woman.” article by Laurie Hanna via nydailynews.com
