A nurse's timely action helped revive a truck driver who suffered a cardiac arrest while driving along the Kozhikode-Bengaluru National Highway in Wayanad on Saturday. Truck driver Shajahan, 55, got a second chance at life after Athira, a nurse at IQRAA Hospital, Kalpetta, spotted him in distress and immediately stepped in to help.

Athira was returning home with her husband Ranjith, children and relatives after visiting the Sreerama Seetha Devi Temple at Ponkuzhy to celebrate their son Diljith’s birthday. While travelling along NH-766 near Ponkuzhy, close to the Kerala-Karnataka border, they noticed a truck that had veered off the road and hit the roadside embankment in the forest stretch.

The family stopped and rushed to the vehicle, where they found the driver, later identified as Shajahan, suffering severe chest pain and losing consciousness inside the cabin. With the help of others who gathered at the spot, they brought him out of the truck and shifted him to their car.

Athira, suspecting a cardiac arrest, immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Realising that waiting for an ambulance could be risky, she asked her husband to drive directly to IQRAA Hospital while she continued CPR during the journey. She also informed the hospital in advance so that the emergency team could be ready.

"From the very first glance, I felt he was suffering a cardiac arrest. There was no time to lose. We decided to take him to the hospital immediately instead of waiting for an ambulance. At that moment, the only thing on my mind was saving his life," Athira told Onmanorama.

She continued CPR throughout the 20-minute journey as Shajahan remained almost unconscious. "At one point, I feared we might lose him because there was hardly any response. I asked my husband to drive as fast as possible. Thankfully, continuous CPR helped him regain consciousness before we reached the hospital," she said.

Doctors at IQRAA Hospital provided emergency treatment and medication after Shajahan was brought in. He is now recovering.

A native of Engappuzha in Kozhikode district, Shajahan was travelling to Karnataka to collect freight for transport back to Kozhikode when the medical emergency occurred.

Recalling the incident, Shajahan said he suddenly developed severe chest pain and blurred vision while driving. "The last thing I remember is my truck going off the road and crashing into the embankment and a tree. I owe my life to the nurse and her family," he said.

Athira, a native of Naikkatti, has been working as a nurse at IQRA Hospital for the past four months. She said saving another person’s life was the best birthday gift her son could have received.