Courtney Newton ’20: A Hero Among Us
Saint Mary’s Courtney Newton ’20 has been certified in CPR since she was a cheer coach in high school, but she never expected to have to use her skills. On Jan. 27, however, her training was put to the test at the Moraga Starbucks, when a 57-year-old man collapsed just outside due to a heart attack. Newton had been inside studying with her roommate when a woman ran in from the patio, asking if anyone knew CPR. Without hesitation, Newton grabbed the CPR mask that she keeps on her keychain and rushed outside to assess the situation.
Despite bystanders screaming and crowding around the man, Newton was able to instruct someone to call 911 and search for an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), get the man onto his back, check for responsiveness and consciousness, and begin compressions. Her friend Caitlin Comaroto ’20, and roommate, Sara Black ’20, assisted by counting compressions in time and consoling the patient’s girlfriend. By the time paramedics arrived at the scene, Newton had completed three rounds of CPR. The man was transported to a nearby hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
“Everyone was asking me, like, were you scared when you were running over to save his life? And honestly, that was the furthest thing from my mind,” Newton said. “I was just seeing that he needs to be saved and no one else here can do it, and I need to do it, so I just stood up and did it.”
When Newton went back inside Starbucks after the incident, everyone gave her a round of applause, and the first responders and police officers shook her hand. At the Moraga Orinda Fire District (MOFD) meeting on the evening of Feb. 20, the board honored Newton with a proclamation of gratitude.
“When I received the report about this call,” Fire Chief Dave Winnacker told Newton at the meeting, “the crew obviously relayed the competency with which you provided the care, but they mentioned over and over again the calmness with which you approached the scene. So...we’re hiring!”
“She’s always been someone to get in and just start working and to help out,” said Newton’s father, Scott. “So [about] that she did it—I’m not surprised.”
“I’m just so proud of her,” said Newton’s mother, Cynthia. “It just gave me chills when she called to tell us. She’s my hero.”
Newton said that weeks later, she still can’t quite believe that this happened and hopes to meet the man she saved one day. As a politics major, she has been inspired to take action in more ways than one.
“Since I definitely want to be a lawyer and I want to go to law school, I would love to draft a policy or a bill where every public space has to have an AED. Because I see the need: That Starbucks didn’t have one, and that would have been really helpful. That’s definitely inspired me to do more in the health care industry via law.”
CPR training classes can be found through the Red Cross and American Heart Association websites.