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Member donations help save Hickory Grove woman's life
By Walter Allread
If you're going to have a really bad day, do like Trudy Sellers and have it at a favorite place, among friends. Better yet, make it friends who know CPR and other life-saving procedures.
On Saturday, July 7, the Hickory Grove resident had gone to her favorite beauty parlor, Affordable Cuts and Styles, for an appointment. At about 12:30, Sellers went unconscious in a chair and had a heart attack. "I don't remember a thing," she says. "I don't even remember coming in."
Sellers, who lives with her daughter and son-in-law, believes she might not have survived if she had been home. When her heart attack occurred, her daughter was away and her son-in-law was asleep, Sellers notes.
Fortunately, two Affordable Cuts patrons who knew cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) happened to be there. Lindsea Cheek, a member of the fire department and Hickory Grove Lifesaving Squad, and Angela Martin, a York Comprehensive High School student, who had learned CPR in a health class in January.
It was the first time Martin had used her training. "I was pretty scared," she says. So was Cheek, who says her lessons didn't come back to her right away. "I had to stop and think for a minute," she notes.
'Y'all saved my life'
 Sellers' bad day kept getting better by the minute. Another customer went to the Hickory Grove Fire Department, where Captain Matt Gilfillan and volunteer firefighter Will Revels were returning from lunch. The fire station is only five minutes away from the salon. Better yet, the department had an automatic external defibrillator (AED), which can detect and help correct heart rhythm problems.
The AED was one of 23 donated in 2004 by the York Electric Trust to fire departments within the co-op's service area. The AEDs, which cost about $1,300 each, were purchased with funds donated by York Electric members to Operation Round Up. Under the program, co-op members volunteer to round up their monthly bills to the next dollar; collected funds benefit worthy non-profit organizations and people in need in the community.
 Sellers considers the members of York Electric who round up their bills lifesavers, too. "Thank you," she says. "Y'all saved my life. If it hadn't been for y'all, I wouldn't be here."
'Like clockwork'
Hickory Grove Fire Department Captain Matt Gilfillan, who is also a lineworker for York Electric, says members' Operation Round Up donations were well spent on the AEDs. "If it wasn't for this piece of equipment, Miss Trudy probably wouldn't be here today," he says. "It's a very valuable piece of equipment. It's a proven fact it does work because she's sitting here today."
Gilfillan adds, "It was a very good feeling, knowing you were able to help somebody who was in the shape she was in."
It wasn't the first time one of the donated AEDs have proved crucial. Last July, a woman in York was saved by emergency responders using one of the defibrillators.
Gilfillan credits a team effort. Fellow Hickory Grove firefighters Will Revels, John Childers and Daniel Hamrick stepped in to help Cheek and Martin administer CPR while Gilfillan got the AED ready. "It was just like clockwork," Gilfillan says.
The AED, which has prerecorded instructional messages, leads users step-by- step through the process. Pads placed on Sellers' chest help diagnose her heart rhythm. The AED recommended shock, which Gilfillan delivered. "We checked her pulse. There was still no pulse," he notes. Another try did the trick.
The firefighters administered care until Piedmont EMS arrived. "By the time we had her loaded into the ambulance, she was somewhat conscious. She could speak," Gilfillan says. Gilfillan stayed in Hickory Grove, but later learned that "by the time they got her to the hospital, she was pretty much fully conscious."
'Take it easy'
Sellers, who was hospitalized at Piedmont Medical Center for a week after the heart attack, had already had stents implanted prior to the heart attack. She says she's feeling good now. "The doctor tells me to take it easy," Sellers says.
Tammie Anderson, chairperson of the Operation Round Up trust board, said co-op members who support the program deserve a pat on the back. "I would like to thank the members of York Electric Co-op for rounding up their small amount of change and giving to Operation Round Up so that we may help people like Trudy," Anderson says.
Related links:
Firefighters use donation to save life »
Letter from Domenic Manera, Fire Chief, City of York »
Want to help? Need Help? Local aid now totals more than $1 million »
More Operation Round Up information & materials »
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