Muscle Central forum member TammyP posted a story about Arnold Classic Brazil winner Steve Kuclo's attempt to save a life on the plane trip back from Rio. Here is her post in its entirety:
Just wanted to give everyone an update regarding our trip home from Rio and the Arnold Brasil.
We unfortunately had to make an emergency landing in Costa Rica due to medical complications of a passenger. About 2 hours into the flight a lady just in front of me to the right, was complaining of sharp pains in her stomach. Any doctors, EMTs, etc. we're paged to come and make an assessment of the symptoms. Steve Kuclo, a Dallas Firefighter/paramedic, came over to speak with the lady, her husband, flight attendants, and another doctor on scene.
The vitals were taken and diagnosis was attempted based on what they had to work with. A call had to be made by the airlines medical director to see if we would return back to Rio or try and make it over the Andes. The pains were coming and going. The passenger started to feel better after using the restroom, came back to her seat, laid and rested for a couple hours.
When her small child would not stop crying, her husband reached back to awaken her but she was unresponsive. Steve was brought back over, took complete control of the situation; kept everyone as calm as could be. When he was unable to get a response, he relocated the woman to the rear of the plane and proceeded to give her CPR for over 40 minutes.
He continued to do everything in his power and used every piece of medical equipment on the plane in an attempt to save her life. In the end it was ultimately in God's hands and she did not make it. Our prayers go out to her husband and their very young daughter. They were on their way to vacation in LA. The flight attendants of AA flight 250 were incredible in action and incredibly well organized.
Everyone played a role and it was an amazing team effort.
