Canton police now know the identity of the good Samaritan who helped them revive an unresponsive man on the side of I-575 last Monday.
Crystal VanAlstyne slipped away before authorities got her name. All they had was dashcam footage of a woman in a Batman T-shirt. They released a screenshot of that footage Thursday to local news outlets and asked the public to help them find the woman.
Friends saw the picture and alerted VanAlstyne, who contacted police.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday, VanAlstyne said driving by the unresponsive man was never an option.
Just a few months ago, strangers stopped to help her husband after he was thrown from a motorcycle in Marietta. Though her husband did not survive the March 7 crash, VanAlstyne said she was thankful “a couple good Samaritans were there to help him out.”
Stopping on I-575 was her way of honoring her husband and the strangers who ran to his side in his final moments, she said.
VanAlstune’s good deed unfolded just before 9:10 p.m. June 26. Canton police Officer Danny Mendoza was en route to help another officer on a stolen vehicle call when he noticed a pickup truck stopped on I-575 South near exit No. 19.
The pickup’s hazard lights were flashing as Mendoza approached the truck. He could see the man below the driver’s seat was unconscious and his passenger was also unresponsive.
“I could hear low breathing sounds, and their skin was very pale,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza dragged the man away from the truck and laid him flat. After that, he briefly regained consciousness.
“He kind of snapped out of it,” Mendoza said.
He laid the woman flat and began CPR on her first.
But within seconds, the man also slipped back out of consciousness.
“And at that point, I had no choice,” Mendoza said.
The woman was struggling to breathe.
That’s when VanAlstyne saw the scene.
“She approached cautiously, yelling out she was there to help,” Mendoza said.
The man was barely breathing. So at Mendoza’s direction, VanAlstyne checked for a pulse and made sure his airway was clear.
“She sounded calm,” Mendoza said.
Soon, the scene was filled with about a dozen paramedics, firefighters and Cherokee County deputies. VanAlstyne disappeared. She had no idea Canton police were trying to find her until her friends told her about a story they saw online.
She said the only thing on her mind was helping the officer.
“He was alone,” she said.
Canton police want to honor VanAlstyne at an upcoming city council meeting.
“I was very thankful to have her there with me,” Mendoza said.
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