Crazy moment on the airplane to Istanbul.
I was asleep when someone started frantically hitting my shoulder.
I pulled off my eye mask and saw the woman in the window seat holding her sleeping baby.
She looked panicked and said, “My husband isn’t breathing.”
I shook him. He was stiff. No response.
I asked if she had notified the flight attendants. She pointed at the call light and said yes—but no one was coming.
I put my hand behind his head and said, “Come back, Chris. Hey—come back.”
Nothing.
Still stiff.
Not responding.
I pulled his head forward a bit more and grabbed his wrist with my other hand.
“Chris, come on. Come back. Come back now.”
I just kept calling him back.
It felt like a few minutes.
Then it happened.
Then he started coughing.
His eyes flew open wide.
Then he jolted back with a harsh ‘AHHH!’—eyes flying open, like he’d been yanked out of a nightmare.
He was back.
“What’s going on?”
His wife began explaining in their language. She looked at me and said thank you.
Then he looked at me—still confused—and started thanking me too.
When the flight attendant finally came, I let his wife explain everything. I just put my eye mask back on. I honestly had no idea what had just happened or what to do next.
I asked if his heart felt okay, how he felt. He said he felt fine. I watched him for a bit, but I was exhausted, so I went back to sleep.
We just landed. He and his wife were incredibly kind and grateful.
I still have no idea what happened. But I think I may have saved the guy’s life.