A D.C. woman was out for a run when her heart stopped and she nearly died. She later discovered that the firefighters who saved her life already had a connection with her. News4’s Aimee Cho reports.
A 27-year-old D.C. woman who went into cardiac arrest while jogging and nearly died reunited Friday with the firefighters who saved her life, and they learned they had a connection involving fate and food.
Bishop Snedden was out for a run near Logan Circle the day after Thanksgiving last year when she collapsed and her heart stopped.
"I just woke up in the hospital a couple days later and had to be told a couple times what went down 'cause it was just so unbelievable," Snedden said.
It turned out Bishop was born with a heart defect.
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She had no pulse for several minutes until D.C. firefighters showed up and brought her back.
On Friday, she got the chance to thank them.
"I literally owe you guys my life. So grateful," Snedden told a group of firefighters who saved her.
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"We all have family, we all have kids, and we really wanted to give you – we do that for everybody," one firefighter told Snedden.
First responders learned Friday that Snedden's family owns Rocklands Barbeque in D.C. and has held events to raise money for injured D.C. firefighters over the past decade.
"We’re grateful to be able to support them and what they do," Bishop Snedden's father John Snedden said.
He never imagined that their mission to give back to firefighters would come full circle.
"My daughter who was not gonna make it, who wouldn’t have lived otherwise, other than their services … you know, it’s hard to put in words," John Snedden said.
"I’m pretty emotional about it, but just to see the people that, literally, hands on were the ones who took me to the hospital, who responded, they were so quick to act, they knew exactly what to do," Bishop Snedden said.
Bishop recently had surgery to fix her heart defect and is doing much better.
"It’s amazing to see somebody walk back into the firehouse after an event like that. It’s one of those once in a lifetime opportunities," firefighter Daniel Lottes said.
