‘The best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had’: Essentia nurse saves man’s life while volunteering

Scanning a lively crowd at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center’s free Thanksgiving buffet, Brit Arnold was hoping to find a table for her 5-year-old son, Jeremiah, to enjoy his meal. She was looking for someone in need of company.

“It always upsets me to see people sitting alone eating, especially on the holidays,” said Brit, a neurotrauma ICU nurse at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center who was volunteering with her family at the DECC’s annual Thanksgiving feast.

She spotted a man by himself who was happy to have Jeremiah join him. Brit bussed tables, returning often to check in with her son. The last time she did so, the man looked like he was sleeping, his head slumped down. Brit’s internal alarm sounded immediately.

“After my years of experience, I just kind of knew something wasn’t right,” she explained. “In the ICU, we’re really used to codes. We have these types of situations far too often.”

Brit asked if the man was alright. Getting no response, she lifted him to the floor and began CPR along with chest compressions. Noticing the commotion, a crowd was drawn to the scene. Brit gave instructions while administering care. She directed one onlooker to call 911 and requested others to form a circle, to give the man privacy. At one point, Brit looked around and locked eyes with Jeremiah.

“I looked up and I saw my son and he’s alone, and I was like, ‘Oh, don’t look over here, buddy,’ ” she recounted. “I told him, ‘Turn around, close your eyes.’ ”

The next time she spotted Jeremiah, there was a volunteer Santa Claus, on-site for the holiday celebration, sitting beside him.

“So he got a very long visit from Santa Claus, and Santa was blocking his view,” Brit said.

Brit estimates that she continued CPR and chest compressions for two to three minutes, until someone retrieved an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). By the time they placed the AED pads on the man, he was starting to come around. EMS arrived and joined the effort.

“People offered to take over, but because I do it often, I kind of wanted to just keep doing it,” Brit said. “I didn’t want anyone to have to feel what I was feeling under my hands. I knew right where the good spot was.

“Then he regained consciousness.”

Working in the ICU, Brit says she and her colleagues don’t often get the chance to see such speedy recoveries. She said watching the man show signs of life, regain his bearings, then stand and get on the paramedics’ stretcher with assistance was a surreal experience.

Brit was volunteering along with her husband, Justin, and their two children — Jeremiah and 7-year-old Emery. Being active in the community is important to them, but the COVID-19 pandemic had limited those opportunities. She’s grateful it didn’t keep her family from the DECC dinner. So, too, is the man she saved.

“Any one of my teammates would’ve done the same thing,” Brit said. “I just happened to be there in the right place at the right time.”

Before the man was wheeled out of the DECC’s Lake Superior Ballroom, he told Brit, “Thank you so much.”

“Honestly, it was the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had,” she said.

Upon parting ways, Brit went back to her bussing shift. There were tables to clean.