Hailed as heroes: Vern Patrick students, staff, parents help Redmond driver with medical emergency

(Update: Update on woman's condition)

Two students saw woman's SUV hit curb, told crossing guard

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – 7 year old Vern Patrick Elementary student Noelani Cunningham and her 10-year-old brother Carson made heroic moves Tuesday morning in Redmond, which led to resuscitating an 80-year-old woman suffering a medical emergency.

"I was worried that she was going to be hurt, so when I got home, I asked my mom if she was going to me okay," Noelani Cunningham told us Wednesday. "My mom said she was alright, and I was happy for that."

The woman had the medical emergency around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday while driving her SUV near the school in southwest Redmond, causing her to hit the curb several times before coming to a stop, Lieutenant Jesse Petersen with the Redmond Police Department said.

Noelani gave us an account of what she saw.

“The car was running onto the sidewalk, and it went into the rocks, and then her head fell down. Carson thought she was trying to pick something up, then her head shook -- and didn’t move at all."

After witnessing the unusual behavior, the siblings told the crossing guard, who in turn flagged down a Vern Patrick parent.

Nathan Veltrie said, “I just lost my grandparents recently, and my other half is about to lose her grandma. And I just couldn’t sit and watch this lady die in front of me.”

After finding the woman was unconscious, Veltire used a large rock, tossed over a fence by a nearby resident, to try to break the rear drivers window of the locked SUV.

“And it just wouldn’t break," Veltrie recalled. "I hit it like 20 times. I started off with a big rock, and this is honestly all that’s left of it.”

He then successfully broke out the back window, got in the vehicle, pulled the woman out and started CPR before off-duty nurses took over.

Veltrie said, "There was two people that went back and forth on her that were doing compressions until the ambulance got there."

The nurses administered CPR until Redmond Fire & Rescue medics arrived. The woman was transported to St. Charles Bend; Petersen did not have an update on her status.

"The Redmond Police Department, Redmond School District, and Redmond Fire & Rescue applauds the heroic actions of everyone involved, including Vern Patrick Elementary students Carson and Noelani Cunningham, Crossing Guard Tammy Salka, and parent Nathan Veltrie," Petersen said in a news release.

"Thank you all for taking action and getting help as soon as you could," he added.

Redmond School District Public Information Officer Holly Brown said Vern Patrick Principal Jennifer Hesse learned from a family member that the woman remains hospitalized and is recovering in the hospital from some broken bones, possibly from the CPR needed to revive her.

Brown said they’re proud of the community and the students.

"They know that they did the best thing they could do, and they played a huge part," Brown said.

The scary situation and quick action outside Vern Patrick provides a lasting lesson for the elementary students.

“Tell a trusted adult that you know will be okay to tell someone," Cunningham said.