It's a good thing Rick Corey and Norman Bowling were working on the city's Winter Wonderland of Lights display on Lexington Avenue that same day.

It's a good thing former nurse Karen Mattscheck was driving down Lexington and saw the oncoming Ford Explorer swerve off the pavement.

And it's a good thing Ashland Police Sgt. Donald Stump and Officer Charles Thompson were on patrol just minutes away.

It's a good thing for Jimmy Dean of Ironton, the driver of the Explorer, because he'd just had a heart attack and his life was slipping away from him as his 5-year-old son Kyle sat on his chest and cried.

Dean is alive to celebrate Christmas tomorrow because those people, and several more, were in the right place at the right time — and did the right thing.

Just 32 years old, slim and fit, Dean doesn't look like anyone's picture of a heart attack victim.

He works in Columbus for a pharmaceutical firm and commutes home to be with his family. Luckily, the heart attack didn't happen during one of his three-hour commutes, but a few blocks from King's Daughters Medical Center.

Bystanders respond

Chapman was on a ladder stringing icicle lights around the rim of his porch when he heard tires screech. He looked around just in time to see Dean's vehicle hit a utility pole.

``Usually when you hear a wreck you don't think about it," Chapman said. ``But something told me, 'You'd better get down there and see if everything's OK."'

Everything wasn't OK, though. Dean was unconscious. He wasn't breathing and he had no pulse. And the car was locked.

The Explorer had come to rest almost in front of Mattscheck's car. Her initial concern was for Kyle, who had crawled out of his car seat and was sitting on top of his father.

Peering through the window, she saw Dean take one breath — and then no more.

A former pediatric nurse, she knew precious seconds were slipping by, so she told Chapman and other bystanders to break a window, preferably the back one, so Dean and his son wouldn't be hit by glass chips.

Dean's Explorer had rear-ended a stopped car before it went off the road, and the driver of that car, Arlin Hall Jr., had a tire iron. Chapman took the iron and smashed out the back window, then climbed in, put the vehicle in park and unlocked it.

``The car was still moving when he went in. He really took a risk," Mattscheck said.

Chapman, Hall and another man from Hall's car pulled Dean out. The instinctive teamwork of a band of bystanders impressed Mattscheck, who by all accounts coordinated the initial lifesaving effort.

``It was amazing. When I asked for somebody to break in, or to get him out, somebody was right there. There was nobody who hesitated," she said.

The fact that she saw a child may have propelled her a little more quickly toward Dean's car, but once she saw the boy was in no danger, she handed him off to others and immediately started cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Dean.

Mattscheck no longer works as a nurse, but her training took over, she said. ``I was on autopilot — it was just instinct," she said. ``Once a nurse, always a nurse, I guess."

Chapman, who is studying to become a surgical technician, also knew the CPR technique and pitched in with her.

Police, EMTs arrive

Meanwhile, Corey, a city parks and recreation department worker, was adjusting part of the holiday light display at Central Park, helped by Bowling, a work-release resident of the Transitions halfway house.

They saw the crash too, and saw the stricken driver and the scared little boy. Corey used the radio in his city truck to call 911. Corey and Bowling helped get Dean and the boy out of the car and then kept the child occupied while the others frantically worked on Dean.

Within minutes, Stump and Thompson, who were on patrol in the neighborhood, arrived and lent a hand with the CPR. They also called for an ambulance.

Boyd County Emergency Medical Services paramedic Tracy James, who arrived soon after with his partner, Kevin Callihan, said Dean owes his life to the quick response of Mattscheck, Chapman and the others.

``The CPR was started right now, and that's what probably saved his life," James said.

James, Callihan and two other medics worked on Dean for about 18 minutes on the street while rain fell and dusk settled over the scene.

Quick response credited

What surprised James was that Dean made it.

``If you do CPR on somebody for 18 minutes and they've been down so long, nine times out of 10 there's no chance," he said.

Dean was in a coma when they got him to the hospital, said Sriharsha Veluri, a cardiologist at King's Daughters. Physicians found three blocked arteries, he said.

Two days after Dean entered the hospital, he underwent bypass surgery, and was home four days after that.

Veluri agreed quick action saved Dean. ``Five more minutes without the CPR and he'd have been brain-dead."

Dean doesn't remember anything that happened that afternoon, and didn't want to talk about it. But he said he was grateful to the people who saved his life.

``They did an excellent job and I wouldn't be here without them," he said.

Some of those who saved Dean, including Corey, Bowling and Mattscheck, didn't know for sure he'd pulled through until a reporter called them for this story.

Bowling said he'd been concerned about Dean's son. ``I was feeling bad because I was hoping his dad wouldn't die, so he'd be there for Christmas for him," he said.

Ashland police have recommended Mattscheck, Chapman, Hall, Corey and Bowling for Civilian Service Awards.