Local woman who cheated death saves man's life

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. -- A local woman saved a man's life months after she cheated death herself.

Laura Geraghty was dead for 57 minutes last April after going into cardiac arrest.

"Once that blood clot hit, it hit hard. I just floated on, and it was white and beautiful. I was dead," she recalled.  

Geraghty was resuscitated by 11 people, who used CPR and a defibrillator.

After her heart attack, Geraghty became CPR certified and got a device that walks one through the process of administering the life-saving technique. The device tells users if they are doing the chest compressions correctly.

"Do people really understand how important CPR is? Every two minutes, this happens," said Geraghty.

Just months later, Geraghty was in a North Attleborough Wal-Mart when she saw a stranger collapse.

"I just immediately dropped to my knees over his body," she said.

She used the pocket CPR device and brought him back to life by the time emergency crews arrived.

"I got a faint pulse, so immediately you stop. Then, I looked at his stomach, and it started going up and down, and I was like, 'Yes!'" said Geraghty.

"The earlier CPR is started, the better the outcome. It actually triples their survival rate," added Lt. Chris Coleman of the North Attleborough Fire Department.

Geraghty is not aware whether the man survived after being taken to a local hospital.

However, she says her mission now is to educate the public about CPR.

(Copyright (c) 2010 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)