In an instant, Sophia Furtado went from delivering pizza to saving a life.
On February 11, Caryn Hebert Sullivan decided to order a late-night pizza and waited for delivery outside her West Island home in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Sullivan has already injured her knee and, as she stood outside, she felt him let go; she fell to the floor, banging her head. “I just remember laying in my driveway thinking, ‘It’s pretty much over,'” Sullivan told CNN. “I was laying there and saw a lot of white clouds.”
Furtado, a DoorDash driver, pulled into Sullivan’s house at 10 p.m., and when she saw an unresponsive Sullivan bleeding from the head, Furtado’s previous emergency medical technician training began. She screamed for help, and Sullivan’s husband Robert, who was sleeping inside, heard her and called 911. Furtado stabilized Sullivan’s neck to protect his spine and did not moved until the doctors arrived.
Sullivan was hospitalized for three weeks and suffered two severe brain hemorrhages. She is still recovering, but was on hand to see her new friend Furtado receive a lifesaving award from the Fairhaven Police Department and a $1,000 educational grant from DoorDash. “I didn’t expect it at all,” Furtado said of the accolades. “I would have done that for anyone.” Sullivan told CNN she was “so grateful” for Furtado, his lifesaving skills and his friendship, adding, “He’s my guardian angel.”
