Robert Taylor remembers eating a bowl of Raisin Bran, getting to work and going to his office but nothing else about the morning of May 13. That may not be a bad thing. Taylor, a security monitor and girls basketball coach at Iroquois High School, is lucky to be alive after suffering a heart attack in a school hallway and being saved by some of his co-workers.
“I just want them to know I am truly and forever indebted to them for doing what they did to save my life,” Taylor said.
Taylor was helping clear a hallway of students when he suddenly dropped to the floor. Other employees rushed to help him but originally thought he was suffering from a seizure. When it became clear that Taylor wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse, PE teacher and coach Dealdon Watson began doing chest compressions. Watson said he learned CPR when he was 12 years old but never had to use it until now.
Assistant Principal Matt Kingsley and Spalding University student nurse practitioner Haley McAnelly continued CPR while teacher Perry Finley retrieved a recently installed automated external defibrillator (AED) machine from the school’s gym. McAnelly, Kingsley and school nurse Michele Asia applied the pads, followed the easy directions and shocked Taylor one time. They continued with CPR before EMS arrived and used their AED three more times before whisking Taylor to a hospital. Ten days later, Taylor was standing before TV cameras with the five members of “my Iroquois family” whose actions and access to an AED were crucial to his future.
Last year, JCPS hired Cintas to install AEDs in every JCPS school. Each high school, including Iroquois, has five of the lifesaving devices. This was the perfect example of why JCPS spent the money to install them, according to Travis Miller, trainer in JCPS Facilities, Environmental Health, and Safety Services.
“I’m blessed that we had an AED machine here in the building and people trained in how to use them,” Taylor said.
Taylor said it’s ironic that he’s trained in CPR and how to use the AED machines but wound up being the one who “needed rescuing”. He says he “feels great” and has been “overwhelmed by the number of text messages I’ve received including from former students.” But most of all, he’s thankful his co-workers were by his side when he needed them most.
“I thank them for giving my daughters a chance to see their dad again,” he said, wiping away a tear.