THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604260221
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Joseph A. Hughes thought he was lucky to land a job as a police officer at age 50.
He had no idea he'd also be a hero within a year.
Hughes, now 51, a Chesapeake resident and a rookie cop for the Portsmouth Police Department, helped save a man's life recently, along with fellow officer Linda S. Thomas.
Grover D. Madlock, 40, had a seizure and stopped breathing while alone in his home on Sunday, March 24.
``It's like, incredible,'' said Hughes, a beat cop in the Churchland area of Portsmouth, where Madlock lives. ``Something you see on TV, `Rescue 911' or something. It was like a dream.''
Madlock, who's retired from the Navy, has frequent seizures and has a heart condition that requires him to use a defibrillator, a device that passes electrical currents through the heart muscle to keep it beating.
Madlock said he had been feeling well lately, so his wife felt safe leaving him at home alone for a short while that day.
He doesn't remember anything about what happened. But police say he began losing consciousness and dialed 911. He passed out while on the phone with the dispatcher.
Hughes said he arrived at Madlock's home to find the door locked. He got no response when he knocked. So he kicked in the door.
It was the first time he had been called upon to do such a thing, Hughes said, but he wasn't nervous. His adrenalin was pumping.
``When it's happening, you just do things automatically,'' he said. ``You just do it, and you don't even think.''
When he didn't find Madlock downstairs, Hughes ran upstairs.
At first he couldn't find the victim there, either. During a seizure, Madlock's body had wedged itself under a bed. But Hughes saw the phone receiver, still off the hook, and then saw the top of Madlock's head, poking out from under the bed.
Hughes moved the bed. Madlock wasn't breathing. ``I thought he was dead,'' Hughes said.
But he and Thomas, the other officer, performed CPR anyway.
Miraculously, Madlock came around. Evidently, his defibrillator had malfunctioned. Hughes and Thomas had restarted Madlock's heart.
``It was a great feeling, to be able to save someone's life,'' said Hughes, who decided to go into police work after a career as a Coast Guard computer specialist. ``That's really something positive; and in this line of work, you have few rewards like this.''
Madlock said he was grateful that the officers were so quick to respond.
``It shows me that they do more than what people say and think,'' he said. ``I think we need to give the officers recognition, let them be recognized for some of the good things that they do.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
Portsmouth Police officers Linda Thomas, far left, and Joe A. Hughes
visit Grover D. Madlock in his Portsmouth home. The officers saved
Madlock's life by performing CPR after Madlock had stopped breathing
during a seizure.
by CNB