FAIRFIELD, Ohio — It was a moment a local 10-year-old boy will likely never forget when he watched his mother work to rescue a man on the verge of death by apparent overdose.
That boy’s mother, Sarah Vaughn, of Fairfield Township, was on her way home with her son when she saw a car in a ditch. When she noticed that the driver appeared unresponsive, she immediately stopped to help.
“His window was down just enough where I could fit my arm through and unlock his door,” Vaughn told WCPO Wednesday.
It didn’t take long, she said, to notice that man was on the verge of death. Authorities believe the man was overdosing on heroin at the time.
“(His eyes) were blank. He was gone,” she said. “He was gurgling the whole time and gasping for air.”
Vaughn said, in the moment, her son was scared. “He said he didn’t know what to do.”
Over the next few minutes, until emergency crews arrived, Vaughn said she was able to determine the man’s name and administer CPR.
“I would just start screaming his name, asking him to stay with me,” she said. “Every pound on his chest, he would gurgle and he would get more air.”
After police arrived and informed Vaughn it was an apparent heroin overdose, she took the opportunity for a teaching moment with her son.
“I looked at my son and told him, ‘This is drugs,’” she told WCPO. “‘This can happen. This is real. And I’m sorry that the world is like this, but I’m happy that you’ve seen this.’”
And after it all, while she hopes the need never arises again, Vaughn said she’d do it all over.
