'I would've been dead:' Son saves father during hunting trip

During a traditional hunting trip, an Ida High School freshman made a heroic move that saved his father's life.

Alex Noland, 15, and his father Donald Noland, were on their way to kick off their bow hunting season the morning of Nov. 13 when their tradition took an unexpected turn.

The duo was approaching the back of Donald's brother's 10-acre property in Petersburg when Donald started to struggle to breathe. Although he does have asthma, he said he's never experienced an attack this severe.

“We were heading out to the woods, we get all the way to the back of the property and then I couldn’t breathe," said Donald. "I started having an asthma attack. I just couldn’t breathe and my throat was closing up.”

He started to remove his hunting gear, laying in the wet leaves and instructed Alex to call 911.

“Something triggered it and it turned into a severe asthma attack and stopped my breathing, which put me into a cardiac arrest,” Donald said.

After seeing his dad lose consciousness, Alex thought quickly and performed CPR.

Alex said at first he was upset, but instinct took over and the 911 dispatcher helped to instruct him on what to do until first responders arrived.

“I did CPR for like a minute or two," said Alex. "It wasn’t that long, and then he came back. When I was 10 or 12, my mom had us take a 911 class with the Bedford EMTs and so I did some CPR there.”

Alex said the Summerfield Township Fire Department and Monroe Community Ambulance responded to the scene within ten minutes, and his cousin transported them to the back of the property on a gator.

“The last thing I remember was laying down on the ground, and then I woke up in the ambulance at the hospital," said Donald.

He stayed in the hospital for about two days, but doctors said no severe damage was done.

“They said everything was good with my heart; I just have to go to a pulmonologist to get my asthma taken care of,” Donald said.

Donald said once he realized what all had occurred, it was a very proud moment for him as a father.

“It was pretty crazy - you never expect your kid to have to save your life," he said. “If he wouldn’t have been there with me, I would’ve been dead.”

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Son saves father's life during hunting trip in Petersburg