HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — The Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief had to act quickly to help a woman who was having a seizure at a restaurant last week.
It happened last Thursday around 8:30 p.m. at a restaurant called Bushel and a Peck in Clarksville, Md. Assistant Chief of Police for Montgomery County, Marc Yamada, explained he was having a late dinner with his wife and daughter when a restaurant worker who was cleaning a nearby table suddenly collapsed.
Yamada was in the restaurant late, and he said they were the only ones still in the restaurant as it was getting ready to close for the night.
The worker, later identified as Vanessa Lopez, fell to the ground while bussing a table, dropping glasses and plates in the process.
"That's when I noticed and went to help her," Yamada said. "I could tell by the way she was holding her hands that she was having a seizure. Based on the training we get... I knew to try to protect her head," Yamada said.
Lopez said she doesn't remember anything after she went to bus the table.
"I just remember waking up outside on a gurney," Lopez said.
Medical personnel later said Lopez had what's called a grand mal seizure.
"I just tried to keep her calm, reassure her, I kept telling her, 'It's OK, I'm here with you,' just to try to comfort her and make sure she was in a good position on the floor so she wasn't choking or anything like that," Yamada said.
Lopez was in a full seizure for about a minute and had stopped breathing at one point, according to Yamada. She began turning purple and that's when Yamada started pounding on her back to try to get her breathing again.
"When I did that four or five times, she suddenly gasped and started gurgling a little bit, and then came around," Yamada said.
"From what they had told me, I was seizing for four and a half minutes," Lopez said later. "[Medics] told me I didn't remember who I was or where I was, or anyone who was in view. I didn't remember anybody."
Lopez was eventually loaded onto an ambulance and taken to an area hospital for treatment. Now a week later, she's back at work at the restaurant.
She said she's feeling better after the scary ordeal, and is eventually going to see a specialist.
"It has never happened to me before, so it was like a really scary thing," Lopez said.
Yamada said he is happy his family chose to order dessert that night.
"It's a problem, oftentimes, going out to eat so late. This time, we ordered dessert at the last minute and that extended our stay, and because we were there so late, thankfully I was able to help."
Lopez said she's thankful for Yamada's help. She said it could have been a lot worse if she had left the restaurant earlier in the night.
"I feel lucky, to be honest. I'm glad it happened here with someone who knew what to do," Lopez said. "Honestly, a million thanks. My mom thanks him and my dad thanks him."
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