Daughter saves father’s life

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — On a stormy summer day, Joseph Pepitone climbed the stairs and made his way to his bedroom. It was time to stretch his achy body-something he thought came with old age.

“When it sneaks in slowly you feel like this is the new norm,” said Pepitone.

But this was not normal. This was cardiac arrest.

“For some reason his heart had stopped beating on its own,” said New Hanover Regional Medical Center EMS Lieutenant Drew Peterson.

Pepitone blacked out. He had no idea his 21-year-old daughter Ryane, certified in CPR, would end up saving his life. She bridged the gap between the 911 call and paramedics arriving.

“After a call has been made to 911, it takes the dispatchers a couple of minutes to dispatch it and for us to get in route and get there,” said Peterson.

Peterson would arrive in about five minutes. In the mean time Pepitone’s life was in his daughter’s hands, literally. Three letters and one hundred chest compressions later, she increased her father’s chance at surviving.

“You give life and you never think that…they’ll give it in return,” said Pepitone.

Pepitone still hasn’t quite recovered from the near-death experience.

“If she wasn’t there, it’s always the if’s.”

But he’s happy to have added a few more members to the family, including Lieutenant Drew Peterson.