WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) – You never know when, where, or how you’re going to have to spring into action in a time of need and doctors are some of the first people on the frontlines.
Jenny Suders is a nephrologist at WVU Medicine’s Wheeling Clinic in West Virginia, and her husband Dan Suders is a Hospitalist at Reynolds Memorial Hospital.
They recently learned that a doctor’s job is never done and used their skills for good.
What was meant to be a time off-duty for two local doctors quickly took a turn just days into their getaway.
”I’ll never forget it. I saw this mom whip around and she goes, ‘Help!’ I was like, Oh my God. And I like, pushed Dan to go help. And I pulled my phone out, called 911.”
JENNY SUDERS – NEPHROLOGIST, WVU MEDICINE WHEELING CLINIC
Dan and Jenny Suders and their nearly two-year-old daughter were vacationing in Hallandale Beach, Florida and visiting family for a little time off before the holidays.
What they didn’t know was that their visit would be life-changing for this young boy in the photo who was spending his time in the pool swimming – until he wasn’t.
”The grandma pulled him out and he was blue and not breathing and he had drowned.”
JENNY SUDERS – NEPHROLOGIST, WVU MEDICINE WHEELING CLINIC
Luckily the Suders were rushing to meet their family and passed the pool at the right place at the right time.
”I was doing chest compressions. And then Jenny gave a couple rescue breaths,” said Dan Suders, a hospitalist at WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital.
”I think within like 2 minutes, he started breathing and we saw the color, kind of come back into his face,” Jenny recalled. “We just kind of went into doctor mode.”
What felt like a never-ending event only played out for around 10 minutes until the EMTs arrived, but for Dan and Jenny there was no doubt that they were going to do everything they could.
”Something clicked. We were all business, no nonsense. Like he did one thing he told me to do, the other thing I called 911. We just kind of handled it.”
JENNY SUDERS – NEPHROLOGIST, WVU MEDICINE WHEELING CLINIC
The boy made a full recovery and went back to swimming the next day, but they say this is a perfect example of water safety and knowing CPR.
”I will tell anybody that would listen to whether you’re a medical professional or not, go learn CPR because you never know,” said Jenny. “Hopefully you’re never in a situation like that. But I don’t know that anyone else around us would have known what to do from what from what we gathered after the fact.”
“Yeah, multiple people came up to us and basically said like, ‘It’s lucky you guys were there. We wouldn’t have known what to do.’”
DAN SUDERS – HOSPITALIST, WVU MEDICINE REYNOLDS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
You never know what can happen, but thankfully the Suders were prepared and amazingly jumped into action.
”People keep calling us heroes. I certainly don’t feel like one, but we’re just grateful. The universe works in mysterious ways, and we were meant to walk past at that moment at that time. And so, it feels like a dream. But we’re grateful we were able to keep the family whole that day.”
JENNY SUDERS – NEPHROLOGIST, WVU MEDICINE WHEELING CLINIC
Dan and Jenny said the young boy was swimming and playing around the hotel the very next day and seeing that brought tears to their eyes and emotion they could not explain – ESPECIALLY with a young daughter of their own.
They said they squeezed her just a bit tighter that night because you truly never know what can happen.
