For one Laurie Rabyor, May 5th is something she remembers in flashes only. One of these flashes is being assisted by an emergency medical worker and the other is being carried into an emergency room.
Absent from her memory is one of the pivotal parts of this day-it’s the moment of several strangers risking their lives to help her after they noticed that she had lost consciousness while driving her car home from work in South Florida.
She had the chance to see this dramatic rescue from the traffic camera footage which the police of Boynton Beach shared in an effort to find the good people who ran in front of Rabyor’s car to stop it at this busy intersection.
Rabyor Reunites with Her Rescuers & Thanks Them for their Selfless Act
The PD held a ceremony where Ms. Rabyor met with her rescuers for the first time, including a woman who took a dumbbell from her car and the man who used it to break the car window of Ms. Rabyor’s car.
At the reunion ceremony, she even returned the orange dumbbell that helped save her life to the owner.
All of the rescuers were strangers, except for Janette Rivera who is a colleague of Ms. Rabyor and saw that her car was drifting on the crosswalk and messing up the whole traffic.
Riviera made a decision in a split second that something wasn’t right and so she put her car in park and ran out there in the traffic, calling for help and asking others to come.
The 63-year-old Rabyor from West Palm Beach said that she is thankful to God for Ms. Riviera and emphasized she will never be able to repay her.
Why Did Ms. Rabyor Lose Consciousness at the Wheel?
According to Ms. Rabyor, she had been fasting as part of the preparation measures to undergo a colonoscopy and passed out while driving from her job at City Shade Company home.
She has been working in the drapery department for three years, along with Ms. Rivera. After the rescue, Rabyor had to stay in the hospital because she was overhydrated while prepping for the colonoscopy and this caused a drop in electrolytes and other minerals.
According to Rivera, her boss asked the police if they had footage of the rescue because as a company, they wanted to honor those who helped save the life of their employee.
When her husband and daughter saw the footage, they told Rivera how proud they were, but that she also has to be extra careful.
To this, Rivera told them that if something had happened to her that they would still be proud of her because she saved a life.
One of the rescuers was US Army staff sergeant Juan Chavez Jr. He stepped in to provide help after noticing Rivera running and yelling about a woman who passed out.
The camera showed Chavez running through the intersection with all the vehicles passing through. He managed to get in front of Rabyor’s car and help stop it. He went back to the intersection for his car and then got back to the scene.
It Was an Impressive & Emotional Moment for Everyone
After seeing the video, Chavez said that it’s impressive how they all came together to help someone most of them didn’t know.
Another of the rescuers at the ceremony was Michael Edelstein. He ran in front of the car and tried, but didn’t succeed, in punching one of the windows.
In addition to the main group of six to seven people who surrounded the car, at least 20 others also helped out by directing the traffic. David Formic broke the window using the dumbbell and another one of the rescuers climbed through it and unlocked the passenger door.
The group pushed the car into a parking area nearby and there, a nurse provided help until the emergency services arrived.
The nurse, Robin Fox, who was at the ceremony as well, said that it was an honor seeing this happen and she got emotional but said she was glad that they all got a chance to see it.
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