DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit firefighters make it their mission every day to save lives. On Friday, a woman who was saved by them got a chance to reconnect with her heroes.
“I’m so grateful for life and taking every chance that I can every day,” Celest Cole of Detroit said.
On Feb. 7, 2024, Cole went into cardiac arrest because of an underlying health condition she didn’t know she had.
Watch our full interview with Celest Cole in the video player below:
“I don’t remember much. I was just at home with my mom and my children just having a typically day and my mom says I like went to sleep, but I wouldn’t wake up,” Cole said.
After Cole wouldn’t wake up, her mother, Elizabeth, called 911 and the operator told Elizabeth she had to start CPR.
As Elizabeth Cole was doing CPR on Celest, firefighter EMTs arrived and took over. They were able to get Celest Cole’s pulse back.
“My daughter doesn’t remember that morning, so for a year, I’ve been telling her how these angels just came marching through. They were soldiers of the Lord for real,” Elizabeth Cole said.
Fast forward a year later and Celest Cole and her family met the firefighters who saved her life.
“Ever since I came home from the hospital, I’ve always said I wanted to meet the people who saved me,” Celest Cole said.
Liam Tuohy and Brett Bradford are two of the firefighters who were there that day.
“It’s incredible. Normally you don’t see the outcome of the patients that you see all the time and this one, it makes you feel good about yourself,” Bradford said.
“It feels very good. You don’t normally get to see this,” Tuohy said.
Celest Cole calls Feb. 7 her second birthday.
“I am so thankful to still be here, that I was one of the chosen ones that went through cardiac arrest and still be able to stand and talk about it,” Celest Cole.
