“His fingertips, his ears, and his lips were all blue.”

Aug 22, 2020

(CNN) A Taco Bell employee in Tennessee is being hailed a hero for saving a man’s life after he passed out in the drive-thru.

Sonja Nixon Frazier, the night shift manager at a Taco Bell restaurant in Clarksville, doesn’t usually work during the day. But on August 12, in a fortunate turn of events, she happened to be on duty when she and two coworkers noticed a car driving in the wrong direction.

Frazier, 37, told CNN:

“We saw the driver was slumped over the wheel so we ran to him and pulled him out of the car. I checked for a pulse and found that it was vague. I almost couldn’t find it at first.

“My coworker called 911, but I noticed his fingertips, his ears, and his lips were all blue.”

Frazier immediately flipped him over and began performing CPR while talking to the man and telling him everything was going to be okay. After approximately 11 minutes of CPR, first responders arrived at the scene and took over.

Frazier said:

“I saw him grab one of their arms when they were lifting him up in the stretcher and that was when I knew he would be okay.

“I don’t look at myself as a hero. This is what I was supposed to do. It doesn’t matter who he was or what skin color he had. I knew I was there to save his life. But it really was overwhelming emotionally.”

Marquita Johnson, the Clarksville Taco Bell general manager, told CNN she “was in tears” when she found out what happened. She says she was not surprised that Frazier immediately stepped in when she realized the man was in danger … 

Frazier hopes her story will encourage everyone to take a first aid class to learn CPR in case a loved one or a stranger needs help. Read more. 

CPR Steps: Learn How to Save a Life