An unexpected encounter

You never know what you are going to experience on a flight on an airplane. Most of the time things go smoothly and without event. The last flight that we were on was the exception to this rule.

We were scheduled to fly home to Salt Lake from Seattle. We had had experience previously with long waits going through security at SeaTac airport so we arranged to be there two hours before the flight left. We were not disappointed. It took us fifty minutes to get through security.

We had some time before boarding, so we like to eat seafood when we are on the coast and they have a seafood place in the terminal. Ivar's serves pretty good seafood, so we ordered Salmon and chips to split between us. It was “qs” as they say in medicine (quantity sufficient) for both of us.

We got to the gate and were in the first boarding group. For some reason we went to the back of the plane to get a seat next to the window. For a while it looked like we might be the only ones in that row on the right side of the plane until a rather large tall man weighing approximately 285 lbs came to deposit his large frame into the aisle seat next to me.

He was rather loud and at times somewhat crude in his language. An electrician by trade he was going to Pittsburgh to watch the Steelers play. When he asked where we were going, I told him Salt Lake, he asked if we were Mormons. That led to a discussion about the church. He said that he would like to know some more about Joseph Smith.

We were just settling down and had started to pull away from the gate when the stewardess inquired over the loud speaker if there was a doctor on board. There was a passenger having a seizure that needed assistance. I raised my hand and there was another man a row behind me across the aisle that also raised his hand. The stewardess ushered us a few rows back to a man sitting in an aisle seat who was slumped in his seat.

When we arrived he was unresponsive. The other doctor felt for a carotid pulse and I felt for a radial pulse. There was no pulse. I checked his pupils and they were dilated. I used the light on my iPhone and the pupils did not react. He was not breathing. We got him on the floor of the plane and the other doctor started chest compressions and I checked his radial pulse. The vigorous chest compressions were producing a good strong radial pulse.

The flight attendants were bringing a defibrillator and I started ripping his shirt from the bottom. A pair of scissors was produced and we cut the shirt up the center of the chest. The other doctor placed the pads on his chest and we yelled “clear”. I moved back and by that time the EMT personnel arrived and I got out of their way.

I went back to my seat and told Alice that the man was dead. I later learned that they shocked him a second time and converted his rhythm from ventricular fibrillation to a sinus rhythm and restored his blood pressure to 105 systolic.

He began breathing on his own and was placed on a transport board and taken off the plane through the back door and placed on a waiting ambulance to be transported to the hospital.

The fact that his upper torso and arms were covered with tattoos made me suspect that he had suffered an overdose. That was the conclusion of the other doctor as well. Perhaps one will never know the etiology of the near fatal incident.

It was interesting that both doctors were active members of the church.

Because of this incident our flight departure was delayed more than an hour.  We were the last two people to board our waiting flight to Salt Lake from Las Vegas. They held the flight for us.

Thus an orthopedic surgeon and a retired pediatrician were able to be of assistance to a stranger in need. We hope the outcome was salutary.

You, my grandchildren, will probably never be called to resuscitate someone on board an airplane, but the Lord will use your talents in other ways to bring back to life someone who is in dire straits spiritually.

The next event following closely upon the code blue was also interesting.  I got the e-mail address from the man sitting next to me and promised to send him some information about Joseph Smith.  Here is what I sent:

Dear Kevin,

I was pleased to make your acquaintance on the plane.  I hope that you are enjoying your trip and have a safe and uneventful trip back home.

Attached in PDF format is a document prepared by Joseph Smith for publication when he was alive.  It details his history.  You will find there are many views of this controversial man. If he were a charlatan or a deceiver he would have built himself up.  I have highlighted in verse 33 what he said the angel told him would happen to his reputation.

The book that he translated is called the Book of Mormon, because the compiler of the record was a man by the name of Mormon.

If you are interested, I would be happy to send you a copy of the book for you to read.  All I need is an address.

My family has been closely associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 183 years.  My ancestors have been driven from their homes in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois by mobs because of their association with Joseph Smith and the church until they came to Utah.

I can testify to you that Jesus is the Christ and the Savior.  That the Bible and the Book of Mormon testify of his divinity.

We send missionaries to all people to allow them the opportunity to learn the truths of the restored gospel, but we do not try to intimidate or trick people.
 

Sincerely,

Perhaps this flight will result in not only saving one person from a physical death, but saving one person from a spiritual death as well.

Be prepared to be a benefit to those around you. You never know when the opportunity will come.

Love,

Grandpa