School nurse saves life of student's grandmother in South Jersey

WEST DEPTFORD TWP., New Jersey (WPVI) -- A South Jersey school nurse is being hailed as a hero for saving a grandmother's life during school dismissal earlier this year.

Cindy Cobb is the school nurse at Oakview Elementary School in West Deptford Township, New Jersey.

She says she enjoys her job because she gets to help kids with everything from stomach aches to lost teeth.

"You know, in the school system, there's that combination piece where it's very important for the children to be safe and healthy in order to learn," said Cobb.

At the end of the day on Friday, March 4, however, it wasn't the kids who needed help.

"Parents were checking in to pick up children. Buses were about to be called," she said.

An aide had rushed into Cobb's office to say a grandparent had collapsed on the blacktop. It was 56-year-old Deborah Stone.

"When you know your life can end or it stops, that's the scary part," said Stone.

Stone says the day of the emergency was just like any other Friday. She had walked to the elementary school to pick up her grandson, but felt odd once she got there.

The last she remembers is putting her hand on the fence that surrounds the school yard.

"I woke up several hours later in a hospital, and they said I was fortunate to be alive," said Stone, who later learned she had gone into cardiac arrest.

Cobb, who had done her assessment, immediately began CPR.

She also activated the school's "Code Blue" protocols, which are put into place for medical emergencies.

The staff team which Cobb had trained for situations like this controlled the crowd and helped EMS get on the grounds.

A task made more difficult around dismissal time.

Two months later, Stone is on the mend. She spent a week in the hospital and has been following up with weekly appointments since.

"I'm better than I have been in a long time," said Stone, who also thanked the hero school nurse.