Thirty-year-old Ed Torres was just doing what he is trained to do—saving lives. Torres, a Filipino, did not expect to respond to an emergency while on a plane, thousands feet high.
“We were on flight TOM 161 from Mexico, Cancun going back to Manchester in UK (United Kingdom),†Torres said in his email to abs-cbnNEWS.com.
Torres became an instant hero for helping save the life of fellow passenger Darren Smith.
A report by the Manchester Evening News stated that Torres and Smith were on the same flight from Mexico heading back to the UK.
While the plane was travelling 30,000 feet high, Smith suffered cardiac arrest. It was later found out that Smith has ventricular tachycardia. Wikipedia described this as a “fast rhythm that originates in one of ventricles of the heartâ€.
With the help of the flight crew, Torres and Sharon Slater, a former nurse from Cumbria, attended to Smith to keep him alive.
“My first reaction, scared. Kasi first time nangyari sa akin yun,†Torres said.
The report stated that Ed and Slater used an aircraft defibrillator to “restart†Smith’s heart. They stayed with him until the plane landed in Azores.
Torres went back to work at the Stepping Hills Hospital in Stockport after the incident. However, he kept wondering if Smith survived. He had no idea that Smith was recovering in the same hospital.
He and Smith were given the chance to personally meet. During their reunion, BBC News reported that Smith thanked him for giving him another shot at life.
“I have been in the UK since 2002 as a nurse then just got a new job here at Stepping Hill Hospital,†Torres said.
Responding to the incident may have been an everyday routine for Torres, his family back home, meanwhile, praised his good deed and is very proud him.
“Nabigla kami nang mabalitaan namin. Di namin akalain. Natutuwa kami,†said his sister Jocelyn from Novaliches, Caloocan.
According to Jocelyn, their parents are not yet aware of Torres’s heroic action as reported by the international media.
“Hindi pa alam ng mga magulang namin kasi nasa probinsiya sila,†said Jocelyn. Their parents live in Camiling, Tarlac province.
“Proud kami na ganun kalakas loob niya. Mabait po siya at mapagbigay,†said Jocelyn when asked to described her brother. “Niloloko nga namin na hero ka na ngayon."
For his part, Torres had this to say: “I am so happy because I made my family, my friends, and the Philippines proud.â€
to see his picture :
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