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Perry couple uses lifesaving aid on fallen jogger

Dr. Temiko Braswell and her husband Eric Braswell say Jaime Bixler fell behind from a group of joggers and collapsed on Macon Road.

PERRY, Ga. — A Perry couple were some of the first people to respond to a man who collapsed near their dentist office during a morning run and helped save his life.

When Jaime Bixler tries to remember his routine run two weeks ago, the details are a little hazy.

"Almost finished with my workout and I was a little more tired than usual. I remember being a little lightheaded -- from there, it’s all blurry,” Bixler recalled.

Bixler went into cardiac arrest and collapsed on the street, and the couple who helped give him lifesaving aid remember it like it was yesterday.

"We encountered a guy laying on his side, about 3 or 4 people hovering over him at the time. They immediately gave us his vitals, said he wasn't breathing, didn't have a pulse. Dr. Braswell started administering compressions and while she was administering compressions, I was setting up the AED," Eric Braswell explained. 

Dr. Temiko Braswell and her husband Eric Braswell say Bixler fell behind from a group of joggers and collapsed on Macon Road. That's when a dental hygienist spotted him from their office window, and they stepped in.

"The studies show that that's a patient's best chance to survive is with early CPR and if you have an AED, the use of it, and so it’s amazing how we were able to help him," she said.

It's been weeks since the incident the couple calls "humbling," and to Bixler, it still feels surreal, but one thing the three of them seem to agree on is, "God was in the midst."

"He happened to be jogging by our office, my hygienist happened to be looking out the window, and we think God had a working AED machine and training," Dr. Braswell said.

"It could've happened anywhere. Since it happened there, I’m still alive to be with my family today, and I’m real thankful for that,” Bixler said.

Bixler says he will now have a new dentist-- Dr. Braswell. The couple credit their CPR training and all the people in their office who jumped into action. They recommend everyone learn CPR and get an AED machine if possible.

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