“It was a normal night for me,” Furtado told CNN on Thursday. “I was almost at the end of my shift.” But when she got home around 10pm, she spotted Sullivan lying on the ground outside, bleeding from her head. Sullivan, who had a previous hand injury and a bad knee, was waiting outside for the birth. As she turned, narrated, her arm and knee went out. She fell and hit her head on the descent. “I just remember lying on my way and thinking it’s pretty much over,” Sullivan recalls. “I was lying there and I saw a lot of white clouds.” Furtado has previous medical knowledge from her training as an Emergency Medicine Technician, but had failed the National Registry test. She noticed that Sullivan’s blood was clotting and estimated that she was lying outside for about 15 to 20 minutes. “Caryn was not responding and her eyes were still rolling in the back of her head,” Furtado said. “I felt like I was going to lose her.” Sullivan’s husband, Robert, was sleeping inside the house but woke up to Furtado’s calls for help. He told him to get some supplies as he called 911. According to Fairhaven Police Officer Jillian Jodoin, Furtado spoke to the sender while providing assistance. “At that moment, Sophia joined our team to help Caryn.” Jodoin told CNN, “I asked her if she could continue to stabilize Caryn’s neck to keep her spine safe. Her answer was, ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ Immediately after, police and doctors began to arrive. Furtado stayed with her until Sullivan was taken to hospital. Sullivan said she was in the hospital for three weeks after the incident and suffered two severe cerebral hemorrhages. Robert and her daughter, Veronica, were by her side all the time. At one point he said that the two of them waited until 2 in the morning to hear if he would succeed.
Recovery, rewards and friendship
After her time in the hospital, Sullivan arrived home in March. “I could not drive, I could not write, I could hardly walk,” he said. While she was judged to have fully recovered in late March, she is still working on some things, having lost 60% of her hearing and can now drive short distances. Despite the horrific experience, Sullivan and Furtado became friends during the injury. “I’m so grateful to her, she’s my guardian angel,” Sullivan said. They have both met each other’s families and Sullivan even gave Easter presents to Furtado’s two children. Furtado was recognized at a ceremony on Wednesday. DoorDash awarded her a $ 1,000 educational scholarship. “We are incredibly grateful to Ms Furtado for intervening during a critical moment and we are relieved that the client has recovered safely since.” A DoorDash spokesman told CNN: “Mrs Furtado’s care and quick response has been heroic and we are delighted to be able to show our appreciation for her tremendous efforts.” Fairhaven police also awarded her a life-saving prize. “Sophia took action, alerted Robert, activated the emergency response system, applied the necessary materials, provided assistance and helped the officers improve intelligence gathering. It saved a life.” The FPD told CNN in a written statement. The recognition came as a surprise to Furtado. “I did not expect it at all,” he said, “I would do it for anyone.” Furtado was previously a DoorDash driver and took up the job again in January. She said she hopes to use the money for more EMT schools when her family becomes more financially stable. She and Sullivan added that they will continue to be in touch and plan to meet again.
