At Terminix in Metairie, everyone is talking about their co-worker, the hero. Though, 26-year-old Shane McGovern, is about as humble as anyone could be about all the added attention.
"Would you consider yourself a hero?" asked reporter Paul Dudley. "This is not an isolated hero situation," said McGovern. “This was a team effort."
In a story first aired Tuesday, WWL-TV told you about the fear 20-year-old Caroline Guercio was experiencing when she found her father unresponsive. It was in a quiet West Riverside neighborhood, near the Irish Channel, in the early morning hours of April 13th. While her mom, a nurse, administered CPR, Caroline went outside and started screaming because she thought her father was dead, but then McGovern walked up.
"So, I am just trying to see what's going on and she says, 'My dad is dead. He is not breathing’ so I said, ‘Let's just go assess the situation,’" said McGovern.
McGovern offered to step in to relieve Caroline's mother who was growing tired from repeated compressions. He had no real CPR experience but he did remember one of his favorite TV shows and a pop song from the 70s.
"I learned this from 'The Office.' I don't know if you watch the show 'The Office' but Michael Scott is giving a dummy CPR in a class to the rhythm of 'Staying Alive.'"
The whole time he was praying.
"I am like God, don't let this one go. Don't let a father, don't let a husband die. His chest is almost on fire on my hands," said McGovern.
And then just like that… life.
"And he starts breathing for about five seconds or so and then boom just like that EMS comes right in the bedroom and takes over," said McGovern.
But in the hustle of getting to the hospital, the family didn't get a chance to ask Shane his last name. He didn't know what happened to the man until someone alerted him about our story. Caroline snapped a photo of McGovern and the man he helped save after they were reunited.
"In the (original) story, she (Caroline) called you her father's guardian angel…” said Dudley. "I think all of us have the opportunity to be someone's guardian angel," added McGovern.
Caroline's father is now wearing an external defibrillator. He has to have his aortic valve replaced in a few weeks, but doctors said he should be fine.