GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A 911 call made by a Comcast representative in Mississippi helped save the life of a West Michigan man who suffered from a stroke.

Thanks to the customer services representative’s quick thinking, Dan Magennis, 65, was able to walk out of the hospital with minimal symptoms just two days after suffering from the stroke.

Magennis, of Walker, was home alone Tuesday, Aug. 13 and called Comcast customer services to address a problem with his cable. He put his phone on speaker and placed it on a table, so he could take notes while he spoke.

But when the customer services representative answered on the other end, Magennis was unable to get a word out.

“Sir, can I help you?” the woman asked. “Sir, are you OK?”

But Magennis was unable to reply. The only sound he could muster was “um.” He tried to move, but he realized his right leg wouldn’t.

It was then that he realized something was terribly wrong.

“I started to panic. I would try to say something, and I just couldn’t. I couldn’t move,” he said. “Within 20-30 seconds, I started to think maybe it was a stroke, but I wasn’t able to tell the representative that.”

More than 800 miles away, Kimberly Williams was the Comcast representative on the other end. On the phone from Jackson, Mississippi, Williams could tell that something was wrong with the man she was speaking with.

“I had confidence in my heart, I knew something was wrong with him,” she said. “I could hear through the phone that something was wrong.”

Williams notified her supervisor and pulled up Google on her computer to search for a police department in Magennis’ area. After contacting several police departments around Grand Rapids, she finally reached the Walker Fire Department and explained the situation to fire officials.

She stayed on the phone with Magennis for five minutes. Thanks to her quick thinking, Walker authorities soon showed up at Magennis’ door.

Paramedics rushed him to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, alerting hospital officials that they were bringing in a stroke victim.

Within an hour of his Comcast call, Magennis went into surgery to remove a blood clot in the left side of his brain, caused by a narrowing artery in his neck. By 2:32 p.m., Magennis was being brought out of a successful surgery.

Due to the quick thinking of Williams and the action of dozens of doctors, police and paramedics, Magennis is recovering from his stroke with minimal symptoms.

“I had a stroke and two days later, I’m walking out of the hospital. It’s incredible,” he said. “Most stroke victims don’t get to walk out of here like this.”

Other than very minimal effects to his speech, Magennis is doing just fine, he said. He’s able to speak, eat and walk.

This wasn’t the first time Williams had dealt with a stroke victim, she said. She had a similar experience with her grandmother, who suffered from a stroke, and she recognized the same symptoms in Magennis.

“When I realized he was having a stroke, I was on it,” she said. “I’ll never forget that day.”

Dr. Justin Singer, director of vascular neurosurgery at Spectrum Health, said it was the quick response from Williams that helped save the life of Magennis.

“(Williams) is a hero in many respects, because she was aware something wasn’t right, and got (Magennis) timely attention,” Singer said.

“If he didn’t get the help that he did, best case scenario is he would’ve had right side paralysis and complete inability to communicate with the outside world, and most likely he would be in a nursing home. Worst case scenario is he would’ve gotten brain swelling and died.”

Singer said timing is crucial when it comes to treating stroke victims. Every minute that a stroke victim doesn’t receive treatment, they lose 2 million brain cells, he said.

Today, Magennis said he is incredibly grateful for the quick thinking of Williams. He said if it weren’t for her help, he’s not sure where he would be today.

“It was absolutely unexpected,” he said. “But I’m still here today. It’s incredible.”