Woman whose CPR helped save teen: 'I'm not a hero'

(WJBK) - A 15-year-old was saved by a stranger after going into cardiac arrest at a restaurant.

The grateful teen and his dad were hoping to track down that hero and thank her in person.

"I'm always looking to help someone," said Susan Pendygraft on Wednesday. "I will continue to do that. I hope others see what I did and will do the same."

Just before leaving her New Baltimore home to get married to her fiancé, Jim, in Louisiana, Susan Pendygraft took a moment to appreciate her life after saving someone else.

"I don't think I'm a hero," she said. "I think it was instinct to want to help someone."

It wasn't their usual spot to grab breakfast but on August 26 Susan and her fiancée deciding to stop in to Country Cabin Restaurant in Sterling Heights.

"There was two guys behind us and all of a sudden I noticed the boy kind of fell over," she said.

On the floor shaking and not breathing was 15-year-old Robert Brown III. Susan called 911 after her fiancée realized that Robert didn't have a pulse.

"I'm asking can anybody do CPR," she said. "I looked at Jim and he said 'Sue you're going to do it, you can do it.'"

With 911 dispatchers on speakerphone and an ambulance on the way, Susan, who is CPR-certified, began compressions.

"Every time I counted to 30 he would gasp and I thought he's coming to," she said. "But he didn't."

A few minutes felt more like hours, she said.

"I was just really scared," she said. "I was afraid I wouldn't do it right or I would do something wrong."

Emergency responders arrived and shocked Robert three times which brought the teen back to life. Susan learned he was okay a few days later.

"I'm like he's alive he's alive! I was so happy," she said.

Robert later learned he has the same congenital heart defect that took his mother's life when he was just 5 years old. Robert told FOX 2 that when he was lying on that restaurant floor not breathing, he saw his mother.

"I saw her as bright as light," he said. "All I heard was what is your name and I told her my name."

Hearing that brought tears to Susan's eyes. She knows how much the teen, who now has a pacemaker, loved playing football.

Robert and his father had a message for Susan.

"If she is out there and listening I would definitely love to see her and meet her again," said dad Robert Brown II. "And give her a big hug and thank her for what she did."

"I just want her to come see me, I am just happy she saved my life I want to see her one more time," Robert III said.

Susan, if it's possible, is even more excited to see them both next week.

"Yes I do want to see him and hug him too," she said. "Because I am so happy he's here today."