Cintas Kicks Off Heart Health Month with TJ McMahon’s Life-Saving Story
The fast actions of Cintas's First Aid & Safety Sales Representative, TJ McMahon, saved the life of a youth baseball coach during practice in Fort Mill, S.C., on August 27, 2022. The incident highlights the importance of CPR and AED training, especially as over 350,000 people experience out-of-hospital cardiac events annually. McMahon used an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) from his truck, helping Rem Crawford regain consciousness within minutes. This story coincides with National Heart Health Month, emphasizing the critical role of preparedness in emergency situations. Cintas has reportedly saved over 600 lives with its AEDs nationwide.
- McMahon's swift action potentially saved Rem Crawford's life by using CPR and an AED.
- Cintas has a track record of saving over 600 lives with its AEDs.
- None.
The fast actions of a First Aid & Safety Sales Representative, using CPR and an AED, helped save a life during a child’s baseball practice.
As National Heart Month kicks off, learn how
Sudden cardiac arrest presents a serious and escalating health challenge. More than 350,000 people suffer out-of-hospital cardiac events each year1. McMahon’s training enabled him to be ready™ for the unexpected and reinforced CPR and AEDs’ critical function in saving lives.
“What we do matters,” McMahon said. “To be involved directly, to see the outcome – and then what comes from the outcome –
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As McMahon watched his son’s summer baseball practice unfold on
Batting practice had just begun when McMahon noticed his son’s coach,
McMahon raced to Crawford’s side. He was not breathing. He had no pulse.
“I immediately knew I had some form of relief inside of my truck,” McMahon said.
Because of his sales role in Cintas’ First Aid & Safety division, McMahon travels everywhere with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). The device analyzes a person’s heartbeat and issues an electrical shock when detecting an uncoordinated rhythm, and Cintas has helped save more than 600 lives with AEDs provided across the country.
The next few minutes were an adrenaline-charged blur. McMahon asked someone to call 911, sent the players into a nearby parking lot away from the scene, bit open the AED pads with his teeth and tore off the cellophane in a frenzy.
McMahon’s training was a crucial part of the life-saving measures, as he knew how to perform compressions, study real-time feedback from the AED and deliver shocks. Emergency Medical Technicians reinforced the process by phone as they sped toward the diamond.
And then, success.
“About 30 to 45 seconds into that second set, Rem comes back to life,” McMahon said.
The incident happened so quickly that Crawford’s wife of 19 years, Ember, had yet to arrive. All three Crawford children had gone with Rem to practice while Ember, in a rare instance, had stayed home. She jumped into action when her 13-year-old daughter called in tears.
“She said, ‘Dad’s on the ground and I don’t know what’s wrong. They said he’s not breathing,’” Ember said. “Please come!”
Ember rushed out of the house without closing the front door. She spoke briefly by phone with Emergency Medical Services before her daughter called again, this time with good news: Rem was awake and traveling to the hospital via ambulance.
Thank you, God, she remembered thinking, that I didn’t have to raise my children alone. That they don’t have to be without a dad. And that I don’t have to do life alone.
Ember seized the opportunity to thank the man who’d saved her husband’s life when she arrived at the field. Another coach pointed out McMahon, who was pacing.
“I’d been OK until then. I was able to pull myself together. And then I walked up and just hugged him and said thank you,” Ember recounted tearfully.
“I was like, ‘No, no, don’t thank me. We were at the right place at the right time with the right stuff,” McMahon said.
Ember was convinced her husband would not have survived without McMahon’s quick action and accessibility to the AED. Rem spent the next week recovering at the hospital after doctors inserted an internal defibrillator to maintain the rhythm of his heartbeat.
In time, Rem was able to recount the circumstances leading to his collapse. He’d been nervous about leading the baseball team – his first head coaching role after years as an assistant coach – and worried about making mistakes.
Rem remembered feeling off as batting practice began but couldn’t say why. The heat, probably. He became light-headed and began sweating profusely.
“I got some water off the bench, came back and that’s when it happened. Everything went white. Next thing I know, there’s a paramedic above me,” Rem said. “Very, very strange. I thought it was a panic attack or something. Exertion. I wasn’t quite sure.”
He was emotional and grateful after finding out the measures McMahon had taken, and he wanted to meet the man who saved his life. He did a little research from afar, even visiting McMahon’s LinkedIn page to learn more about the person he called his hero.
They finally met in person at the ballpark in September, less than a month after Rem’s heart attack. Ember flagged down McMahon, who approached her car thinking he’d shake her husband’s hand.
Instead, McMahon and Rem hugged for nearly 45 seconds.
“It wasn’t a hand-shaking moment,” McMahon said.
They became fast friends as dusk slipped into darkness. The men shared their perspectives of the incident, spoke at length about the AED’s impact and even made plans for their families to spend time together over the holidays. What started as quick action by McMahon became an unbreakable bond between two families that continues today.
“I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for us, for me, for my family, for my future,” Rem added.
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FAQ
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