North Texas woman uses CPR to save a man from a heart attack on a hiking trail

FORT WORTH, Texas – A North Texas woman is hailed as a hero after she used her CPR course from her time at the American Heart Association to save a man from a heart attack while they were walking down the same trail.

Brooke Berryman and her friend and workout buddy Leah were walking along the Trinity River trail in Fort Worth a couple of weeks ago when they came across a man on the ground with a group of people around him. She clearly says it was a medical emergency.

“She asked me, ‘Should we go there?’ And my instinct was no, there were four people,” she recalls.

Berryman is director of the American Heart Association of Fort Worth’s Go Red for Women initiative.

“But you never think it will be you. I’m like, no, there are people out there who got to us. They don’t need me,” she said. “And my friend was the catalyst and said no, they do.”

Berryman quickly took control and began CPR until paramedics arrived. A man who suffered a heart attack while riding a bike prefers to remain anonymous. He is now at home recovering.

“Everyone’s like, ‘You’re a hero!’ And it’s not like I’m a hero. Anyone can do it,” she said. “This is a message. Anyone can do it.”

Back at work, Berryman faced a real challenge that gave her a passionate look at the outreach event she helped plan. The business leaders at the luncheon got a full hands-on demonstration of the very technique she had used just a few days earlier.

“Where could these people in red dresses and suits come and learn this life-saving skill, so I definitely hurt people in this direction with a newfound passion,” she said.

Berryman has been a Fellow of the American Heart Association for two years. And for two weeks now, the hero has been sharing his message in the eyes of some.

“This is the message you need to feel,” she said. “You must feel like if it was me? What if it was my father? Don’t you want people to know?”