THIS is the harrowing moment brave plane passengers desperately performed CPR on a dying Covid victim as they fought for an hour to save his life.
A man with coronavirus symptoms fell unconscious an hour into a United Airlines flight from Orlando to Los Angeles last Monday, after he was seen “shaking and sweating” before take off.
The newly-emerged video shows fellow passengers then risk catching the infectious disease themselves by stepping in to perform CPR on the victim.
The footage captured concerned onlookers watching on as three trained professionals administered life-saving procedures for almost an hour before the plane could land in New Orleans.
The victim was pronounced dead in hospital following the emergency landing in Louisiana.
Tony Aldapa was one of the selfless passengers who attempted to help the suffering man.
He says he was left “covered in sweat and urine” after trying to help save the victim.
According to the Daily Mail, Aldapa took to Twitter over the weekend to address the harrowing experience.
He wrote: “I made the decision to attempt to save the passengers life and along with two others performed CPR for close to an hour until we landed.
“And continued to help the firefighters when they came onboard.
“I knew the risks involved in performing CPR on someone that potentially has COVID but I made the choice to do so anyways.”
Aldapa then explained how the sick passenger’s wife never said her husband was positive for Covid, she only mentioned he had a test planned once they were in their destination.
Recalling his helpful actions, Aldapa said: “I spent the remainder of the flight covered in my own sweat and in that man’s urine.
“I have since become symptomatic myself and am awaiting the results of my second test. I have not been contacted by the airline or by CDC [The Centers of Disease Control] as of this time.
“Looking back I would not change my actions, but I may have stepped up earlier. Knowing I had the knowledge, training and experience to help out, I could not have sat idly by and watched someone die.”
The man who died was seen “shaking and sweating as he boarded the plane,” a Twitter user reportedly said.
Aldapa a started his life-saving attempts by standing up out of his seat and saying: “Hey I know CPR. Do you need some extra help?”
He recalled it was approximately 45 minutes from when he started helping to when the fire department arrived.
Aldapa added: “There was no mouth-to-mouth at all. We were doing chest compressions and they had him on the oxygen mask from the plane, then once we had a medical bag that is kept on board.
“We used an ambu-bag which is a bag that you squeeze to give breaths, that’s what we used for breathing.”
Since the ordeal, United Airlines has confirmed that it was contact by the CDC and informed that the man did have coronavirus, the Daily Mail reports.
A statement from the company says: “At the tme of the diversion, we were informed he had suffered a cardiac arrest, so passengers were given the option to take a later flight or continue on with tbheir travel plans.
“Now that the CDC has contacted us directly, we are sharing requested information with the agency so they can work with local health officials to conduct outreach to any customers the CDC believes may be at risk for possible exposure or infection.”
