SOMERSET, NJ – Instead of taking a video with her phone, Trish Weisenstein jumped into action July 27 to perform CPR on a senior citizen hit by a car on Easton Avenue, possibly saving his life.

Weisenstein, a retired nurse from Freehold, aided another good Samaritan in performing the life-saving technique on Patrick McDonald, a 71-year-old New Brunswick resident, who was struck while crossing Easton Avenue.

"I was driving on Easton Avenue to meet a friend for lunch when I saw a young man doing compressions by himself on a man in the street," Weisenstein said. "I pulled over to help. I told him I was a retired nurse and knew CPR and he told me was an off duty EMT."

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McDonald did not have a pulse, was blue in color and bleeding from his head, Weisenstein said.

As the unidentified EMT and Weisenstein performed CPR on McDonald, another unidentified person joined in to help.

Eventually, an ambulance arrived and provided McDonald with medical assistance.

McDonald suffered a “serious,” non-life-threatening injury to his head in the crash, Franklin Police Department Lt. Philip Rizzo said via email.

"As compressions and oxygenation continued Mr. McDonald’s jaw moved, his pulse returned and he began to pink up," Weisenstein said. "His eyes were still closed but I told him that he was going to be okay."





He remains under the care of doctors, but he's in stable condition, according to Franklin police.

The alleged driver, meanwhile, is scheduled to appear in Franklin's municipal court “in the near future,” Rizzo said.

Unab Javed, a 27-year-old woman from Somerset, received a ticket for careless driving, cops said.

She allegedly drove her 2016 Mazda CX5 eastward on Castleton Avenue before stopping at the intersection with Easton Avenue.

She then allegedly turned right and failed to see McDonald, who was crossing the road, and struck him, police claim.

The quick thinking of the unidentified EMT and Weisenstein was key to McDonald's recovery.

Weisenstein encourages everyone that can to learn CPR, because "you never know when you might be in a situation to help save a life."

"You were his angel," Donna Cohen Ligor, of Somerset, told Weisenstein in a recent social media post in which she described the incident.

Those seeking to learn first aid, CPR or AED can contact their nearest Red Cross.