Oviedo officer revives heart attack victim, leads emotional reunion

An unusual open parking spot outside First Methodist Church of Oviedo put Officer Chris St. John within seconds of Doug Black when the 71-year-old suffered a heart attack before a Sunday service.

Black, a Port St. Lucie man, had planned to attend the church’s 9:30 a.m. service on April 26 when he collapsed in the parking lot. His girlfriend, Kathy Joy Saunders, stayed with him and then flagged down St. John, who was working a traffic detail and extra-duty assignment at the church. St. John grabbed his department-issued AED, reached Black’s vehicle, delivered one shock and began CPR. Body camera footage captured the rescue, including St. John telling Black, “Stay awake, sir. Stay awake,” as he worked to bring him back.

Black said he was unconscious for about five or six minutes. He later regained consciousness and, in a moment St. John said he had never seen before, was able to walk to the ambulance on his own when Oviedo firefighters arrived. He was taken to Sanford HCA Hospital for treatment and later learned the blockage was the “widowmaker,” with 90 percent of the artery blocked.

The reunion between Black and St. John took place Wednesday, May 6, and showed the human side of a sequence built on fast action and preparation. Black said he met with his cardiologist the day before and got a strong report. He said the officer’s response, and the training behind it, gave him a new lease on life. Saunders called the sequence of events a miracle and pointed to the parking arrangement that placed Black directly in the officer’s path.

The case underscores why the chain of survival matters in Seminole County and beyond. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack, and that calling 911, using an AED and starting CPR immediately can dramatically improve survival. The American Heart Association says earlier bystander CPR is linked to better survival and brain function, and it trains more than 22 million people worldwide in CPR each year.

For churches, schools and local venues across Oviedo and Seminole County, the lesson is concrete: have an AED close by, make sure staff and volunteers know where it is, and train people to act without delay. In Black’s case, the right equipment, the right placement and a trained officer on duty turned a parking lot emergency into a life saved.