Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Pizza delivery driver saves life of woman she found lying bleeding on ground: ‘Would’ve done that for anyone’

Woman had suffered a fall outside her house while waiting for her pizza delivery

Sravasti Dasgupta
Wednesday 04 May 2022 05:19 EDT
Comments
DoorDash driver Sophia Furtado being bestowed a grant by company’s chief executive and felicitated by the Fairhaven police department
DoorDash driver Sophia Furtado being bestowed a grant by company’s chief executive and felicitated by the Fairhaven police department (Fairhaven Police Department K9 Unit/Facebook)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Massachusetts delivery driver who saved the life of a woman to whom she was delivering pizza has been given a $1,000 educational grant by her employer and praised by the police for her bravery and quick thinking.

The incident happened on 11 February, but was reported on recently.

Caryn Hebert Sullivan had ordered a late-night pizza and was waiting outside her home in West Island Fairhaven on Buzzards Bay, when her knee gave way, making her fall.

When DoorDash driver Sophia Furtado reached the house, she found Ms Sullivan lying outside on the ground, bleeding from the head.

“Caryn was unresponsive, and her eyes kept rolling to the back of her head,” Ms Furtado was quoted as saying.

“I felt like I was going to lose her.”

“I just remember laying on my driveway thinking ‘This is pretty much over’,” Ms Sullivan said.

“I was laying there and saw a lot of white clouds.”

Ms Furtado, who had trained as an an Emergency Medical Technician but failed the National Registry test, called Ms Sullivan’s husband who was sleeping upstairs and asked him to alert 911.

Fairhaven police officials said the DoorDash driver spoke with the 911 call dispatcher while rendering aid to Ms Sullivan.

“At that moment Sophia became a part of our team to aid Caryn,” officer Jillian Jodoin told CNN.

“I asked her if it was possible for her to keep stabilising Caryn’s neck to keep her spine safe, her answer was, ‘I’m not going anywhere’.”

Ms Furtado stayed with Ms Sullivan till emergency services arrived and transported her to the hospital where she spent three weeks after suffering two severe brain bleeds.

“I am so thankful for her, she’s my guardian angel,” Ms Sullivan said.

“Thank God she was there, if she wasn’t there, I’d be dead.”

The two have remained in touch and even met each other’s families.

Ms Furtado was bestowed the grant by DoorDash’s chief executive Tony Xu and felicitated by the Fairhaven police department on 20 April, the company said in a Facebook post.

“I was not expecting it at all,” Ms Furtado said. “I would’ve done that for anyone.”

DoorDash also issued a statement and lauded Ms Furtado for her quick thinking during the incident.

“We are incredibly grateful to Ms Furtado for stepping in during a critical moment and are relieved that the customer has since safely recovered,” a DoorDash spokesperson said.

“Ms Furtado’s care and quick response were nothing short of heroic and we are honored to have been able to show our appreciation for her tremendous efforts.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in