Joy Soup kitchen worker comes to the aid of man in medical emergency

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - It was just a few months ago that Thomas Quigley, a former paramedic and current chairman of the Joy Soup Kitchen in Greenville, decided to train his employees on how to administer Narcan, a medication that can be used to help reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Friday, that training paid off as Quigley says one of his workers jumped into action when she saw a man having difficulty breathing outside the building.

Jessica Person says, “I had kneeled down and I inserted one dose of Narcan in one of his nostrils and he started maybe a little bit of movement. Our manager instructed me again to do a second dose of Narcan in the other nostril in case the first one was clogged and I did it and started moving.”

Shortly after, Person says the man started breathing again.

Quigley says, “I looked at her and said I am proud of you, you just saved somebody’s life.”

Person says she’s grateful for the training and that she was able to stay calm through it all. “I know my manager is very proud and I want to tell him thank you for the training and talking me through it and just preparing me for it because he prepares us every day for stuff like this in case it happens.”

Quigley says EMS came and picked up the man.

Joy Soup Kitchen will begin hosting Narcan and other forms of healthcare training in the coming months.

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