FORT MYERS, Fla. — Twin sisters saved a woman's life when she was having a medical emergency on a flight from Boston to Fort Myers earlier this month.
Although the woman, Pat Dougan, says much of what happened is a blur, she is grateful to be alive.
Dougan says she hasn't met the two sisters yet but really wants to thank them for jumping into action as soon as they did.
"When they landed the plane, they landed with me in the aisle," recalled Dougan. "I was in the center aisle. I remember them saying to me, 'You’re going to land flying on the center floor of the plane.'"
Dougan tells us 45 minutes prior to landing, she passed out near the airplane's bathroom. She was rushed to Gulf Coast Medical Center after landing.
"I learned later, when I heard on the news, 'two women save the life of a diabetic emergency on a flight from Boston to Florida,' and that was me," Dougan said. "I thought, 'Oh, that’s me they’re talking about.'"
Dougan then learned more about the two women: Nicole Kelly is a traveling nurse, and her sister, Lindsay Byrne, is a firefighter and paramedic.
77-year-old Dougan has had diabetes for the last 50 years and said that when she was getting on the flight, she didn't realize her blood sugar was low.
"I saw my hands go up and the insulin pump had disconnected," she said. "The tubing had disconnected from my waist and I don’t know whether that was when I was falling or later on. I think that’s when the ladies realized I had diabetes because they saw the insulin pump."
Her sons were worried when she didn't call after landing.
"My youngest son called the airport and they didn’t know anything about it," she said. "I wasn’t home when I was supposed to be, but they finally found me. They were very relieved that I was being treated and taken care of."
Dougan is back home in Naples now, doing much better, and doesn't plan on taking any flights soon.
