Woman Travels Hundreds Of Miles To Thank Tulsa Paramedic Who Saved Her Life

Saturday, November 2nd 2019, 8:35 pm

By: Amelia Mugavero

Mercy EMS paramedic Jeremy Fern and Paula Turner live on opposites sides of the country; but that all changed Saturday when both ended up in Fern's house, all for Turner to share a simple hug, and a big thank you.

"It was a total miracle that he was in the right place at the right time.," said survivor Paula Turner.

After months of planning, Turner traveled hundreds of miles from her home state of New York to thank paramedic Fern - who used his life-saving training to save her life.

Back in May, Paula and her husband Dave and Fern and his dad were all on the same diving trip in Mexico over the summer. As the Turners swam up the surface, Dave noticed Paula unconscious and not breathing.

"When I surfaced it was the most helpless feeling in the world, because we were in the middle of the bay and I was thinking ‘oh my god what are we going to do now?’" Dave Turner explained to News On 6.

Fern was in another boat nearby and heard the screams, being a paramedic for over a decade, he rushed into action.

"It's just muscle memory at that point, I did what we are trained to do," said Fern.



Fern gave CPR on Turner for over 30 minutes and did not give up until she was resuscitated. He then used equipment on board the boat to help her regain consciousness.

Because of that effort, Turner had the opportunity to sit beside her hero and thank him in person.

"It's a feeling that is second to none in the world," said Fern. "When we are successful, having her sitting here beside me is all the thanks to the world, and is why we as paramedics do what we do."

Two people who started as strangers, are now lifelong friends.

"All the stars were aligned for me to be a survivor, words can’t describe it," Turner said with tears in her eyes. "I am just so happy I got to come here and thank him in person."

Turner said she has made a full recovery. Doctors still don't know what caused Turner to lose consciousness, but Turner said on that day, Fern was her guardian angel.