Good Samaritan Uses Baseball Bat to Help Save Man’s Life – ABC News

A man who nearly died from carbon monoxide poisoning is alive thanks to a Good Samaritan wielding a baseball bat.

Charlie Cottrill was on his way to work early Wednesday morning in Chillicothe, Ohio, when his car started filling up with exhaust fumes, hospital officials said. Within 15 to 20 minutes he passed out and drove into a field.

Jessica Farley, 35, also happened to be driving early that morning on Egypt Pike, a major roadway in the state, coming back from the gym. She told ABC News today that she noticed another car — not the one Cottrill was driving — with its hazards on stopped in the middle of the road.

The driver of the car in the middle of the road, Kirsten Sims, told Farley she saw a car out in the field but was scared to go out there by herself to check and see if everything was okay.

The two women walked over to the car and Farley said Cottrill was “slumped over into the passenger seat.” She banged on the car window but Cottrill was not responsive, Farley said.

Farley said she tried pulling the door handles but they were all locked. She said she had Sims call 911, while she ran to her car and pulled out her son’s baseball bat using it to break the window so she could get Cottrill out.

When she finally got the doors open, Cottrill was unconscious and his “eyes rolled to the back of his head. He was barely breathing,” Farley said. She describe the strong scent of the fumes coming from the car.

While she admits she usually panics in stressful situations, Farley said she began performing CPR. “It all happened so fast,” she said. “It was just instinct.”

Cottrill had a faint pulse when the paramedics came. Farley told them “I think he’s got carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Cottrill was then taken to Adena Medical Center where he was treated in a hyperbaric chamber, Farley said. The chamber forces oxygen into the body, driving out the carbon monoxide.

After the ambulance took Cottrill away, Farley had no way of finding out if he would survive. She went to work but her mind was restless, she said, wondering what had happened to Cottrill. At the time she didn’t even know the other woman’s name who helped her save Cottrill.

She tried contacting the hospital but due to patient confidentiality Farley was unable to get his name. She decided to turn to Facebook, posting in the Southern Ohio Bulletin Board group about the experience.

“I thanked the woman for being there, because if not I wouldn’t have seen the car and gone out there to help,” Farley said. “I reached out to let the family of the gentleman know I was praying for them.”

The response was extremely positive from the community, with so many people praising what Farley had done. Cottrill’s sister, Jennifer Cottrill Partee, saw Farley’s post and reached out to her.

On Thursday, Cottrill’s sister went to the McDonald’s where Farley works to thank her in person for saving her brother’s life. WSYX, the ABC affiliate in Columbus, was at the McDonald’s to document the emotional moment.

Farley has continued to help support the family by creating a GoFundMe campaign to help cover Cottrill’s medical expenses.

Cottrill was released from the hospital Thursday, according to Farley. She also added that the hospital staff told her if she had arrived at Cottrill’s car even a few minutes later, he probably would have died.

Farley said she hopes to meet Cottrill one day and to tell him to “live your life and live it to the fullest.”

Cottrill Partee could not be immediately reached for comment.