A quiet Sunday drive in the Middle Valley changed suddenly when Hannah Thomas noticed a man lying face down in a field.

“He wasn’t breathing. He was blue. He was sweating. It was just scary,” she said.

Hannah stopped the car and got out to help while her boyfriend called 9-1-1.

Hamilton County 911 dispatcher Courtney Snyder was on the other end of the line. She knew they had to begin CPR immediately.

“We just have to start CPR to keep the blood flowing,” Snyder explained during the emergency call.

Hannah, a hairdresser, didn’t know what to do and relied on Snyder’s instructions.

“I remember her voice sounding very reassuring. I had no idea how to do CPR, so I told her that. She said it was okay, she would explain it to me, and she did,” Hannah said.

“I want you to place the heel of your hand right between his nipples in the center of his chest,” Snyder instructed during the phone call.

“The confidence you have in yourself will rub off on them and give them confidence in what they do,” Snyder told Local 3 News.

For nearly seven minutes, Hannah performed CPR and delivered important news to Snyder before paramedics arrived.

“They finally came by and said they felt his pulse, and that was it. They drove away, I drove away. I didn’t know him, I didn’t know his name. I didn’t know what had happened,” Hannah said.

Hours passed and Hannah couldn’t stop thinking about the man she had helped in the field.

At the hospital, doctors said Brian Gooden, an otherwise healthy 49-year-old, had suffered cardiac arrest and had not breathed for over twenty minutes.

“I said it kind of scares me that there was no warning. No dizziness, I didn’t feel sick at all. I just fell out,” he said.

After surgery to implant a defibrillator, a few days in intensive care, and the power of social media, Hannah met the man on the scene and Brian met the stranger who likely saved his life.

“It was great to see him up and about, healthy and back to his old self,” Hannah said.

“God worked through them that day. And through the emergency services. Everything worked out,” Brian added.

Brian recently returned to work and is expected to be well.

“They’ve been very cooperative, from what I’ve heard. They’ve made my job a lot easier. They’ve been great to work with. Hannah has been incredible. I can’t thank her enough for what she’s done,” Snyder said.

“If she hadn’t helped me so honestly, I don’t know what would happen now,” Hannah said.