It was a former elementary school nurse who held Spencer Feuerstein’s hand as he clung to life moments after being struck by a vehicle, allegedly driven by a 16-year-old boy who was doing doughnuts in the parking lot of a Tucker shopping plaza last week.
DeKalb County police said Feuerstein, 31, had walked out of a Hollywood Feed store on Lavista Road, where he was the manager, and was trying to confront the boy about 5 p.m. on Nov. 9. The teen driver hit Feuerstein as he sped away, only to be found by police a short time later and arrested.
Elise Fredrickson, 55, had just pulled into the parking lot to pick up some food for herself and her husband when she saw Feuerstein lying on the ground and a lone police officer trying to keep a crowd of bystanders at bay.
“I stopped my car, and I have a CPR mask that I keep on my keychain, so I just went running over there,” she said. “I went right up to him and just knelt beside the guy.”
He was still breathing when she told the officer she was a nurse, and together they put Feuerstein on his side to keep his airway clear as they waited for EMTs to arrive.
“I just stayed there and just — kind of was rubbing his back and had my hand on his chest and just, just, kind of just trying to comfort him and say, ‘Hang on; we’re here,’” she recalled.
Credit: Contributed Family Photo
Credit: Contributed Family Photo
Feuerstein, who grew up in Monroe, lived in Tucker with his wife of five years, Alison. They met while he was attending the former Southern Polytechnic State University in Cobb County. Together, they doted on their four dogs and a cat, enjoyed playing video games and watched “guilty-pleasure television shows,” according to his obituary.
He’d worked at Hollywood Feed since 2019. He loved to draw, his family said, and he often designed murals and chalkboard sale signs that “brightened the walls” of the store.
Store employees declined to speak Wednesday, saying they were respecting the family’s privacy. In a statement, the company said they are “heartbroken over the loss of one of our Hollywood Feed team members.”
When Fredrickson found Feuerstein injured last week, she tried to ease what she was sure were his final moments. Bystanders were still gathering around, Fredrickson said, and she remembers snapping at them to back up and keep quiet.
“I just didn’t want (Feuerstein) to be hearing this,” she said.
Having been an elementary school nurse, Fredrickson hadn’t encountered anything like what she saw that day. She’s trained teachers and school faculty and staff on how to administer CPR, but she’d never had to put it into practice in real life.
The whole thing “felt like a million years and also just seconds at the same time,” she said. When EMTs arrived, she squeezed Feuerstein’s hand one last time amid the flurry to stabilize him enough to rush him to a hospital. She was hopeful when she learned he made it there.
But he died the following day, Nov. 10. It was Fredrickson’s 55th birthday.
“This guy was just 31, and that’s just so young,” she said.
A memorial service will be held Saturday at Floral Hills Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Tucker. In Feuerstein’s obituary, his family and friends said they would miss him and his “glorious head of hair” every day.
“His generosity extended even beyond his life, giving his last gifts as an organ donor,” his loved ones said.
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