Right place, right time: Three people step in to save man behind wheel

DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Powell man and his family are grateful for the quick thinking of a local detective who performed CPR as the man suffered a heart attack.

About a month after almost losing his life, Randy Richardson is back home with his wife Karen.

“Feels good to be home," he said. "I was in the hospital, two hospitals for 25 days, going through therapy and different things and it really feels good to be home."

It was a Sunday morning in July. The Richardsons had just turned onto U.S. Route 23 in Delaware County when Randy passed out behind the wheel. Karen reached over from the passenger's seat, trying to get control of the car. It went through the grassy median, then the wrong way on U.S. Route 23 for a bit. Finally, she was able to bring it to a stop.

“I just put the car in park. And I was like, what's the worst that can happen, my transmission fall out, I was like, that's the least of my worries right now," she said. “I just did what had to be done, I didn't even think about it.”

Rashad Pitts, a detective with the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, was off duty at the time. But he happened to be driving the opposite direction on U.S. Route 23 and saw what was going on.

“He obviously needs help, he’s not driving, his wife is driving from the passenger seat so I knew he needed help and I could just feel something was really different," Pitts said.

Pitts rushed over to the car, had Karen call 911, got Randy out and started performing CPR. A week later he got the call that Randy was going to be okay.

“Just to know he has another opportunity to be with his family," Pitts said. “It feels good to be a part of helping somebody survive, it feels pretty good."

Randy is a father and grandfather. He'll now be able to create more memories with his family.

“If he hadn't been there, I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now," Randy said.

Randy ended up having quadruple bypass surgery. While in rehab, he and his family got to meet Pitts for the first time since the heart attack. The Richardsons now call him a friend for life.

“That was amazing. Because I just gave him a big hug and said thank you, thank you, thank you," Randy said. "You don't know how much I thank you and he said who else helped and I said you can thank everybody but you being there at that time obviously saved my life."

The Richardsons also wanted to thank everyone else who jumped in to help. Pitts was the first to start CPR. But an off duty Westerville firefighter and nurse who both happened to be in the area also assisted with the situation until an ambulance arrived.