Man suffered a heart attack while driving his car. A doctor driving behind him jumped into action
Sometimes, life places the right person in the right place at the exact right moment. That's how Dr. Kehinde Idowu was there around John Nimmo on one of the crucial days of his life. Dr Idowu was headed to work when he took an unscheduled route, per Inside Edition. This led him directly behind Nimmo’s vehicle. From his vantage point, he watched as John’s car started inching toward oncoming traffic.
“I was on my way to work, taking a route that my GPS wasn't suggesting I picked… and that's when I started noticing his car inching forward towards incoming traffic,” Dr. Idowu explained. At first, he thought John might be slowing down. There were no brake lights. In his mind, something was not right. John’s car went over a sidewalk and stopped briefly on an embankment before continuing forward. Dr. Idowu maneuvered his vehicle off the road and rushed to the scene, where he found Nimmo sweating and clutching his chest. “I automatically thinking, okay, he's having, what would I describe as a medical event, but more likely a heart attack,” he said while talking to Inside Edition.
Just then, the car picked up speed and eventually collided with a wall. At that point, the doctor was already at John’s side. Dr. Idowu called 911, attempting to give precise directions to EMS. Staff from a nearby Midas Carter location came out to help. Dr. Idowu checked John for responsiveness and then for a pulse. Without hesitation, he placed his hands on Nimmo’s chest and began CPR. Moments like these are why immediate action matters. According to the American Heart Association, over 350,000 people die each year due to cardiac arrest and immediate CPR can double or even triple survival chances.
There was a fleeting moment when Nimmo appeared to breathe on his own, but the liveliness didn’t last. Dr. Idowu continued compressions. Police arrived and a responding officer fetched a defibrillator, an extra tool to complement the lifesaving effort. Soon after, EMS arrived, hooked John up to monitors and took him to a nearby hospital.
The timing, Dr. Idowu later reflected, felt like a blessing. “How quickly EMS arrived and how quickly a police officer arrived with a defibrillator is another blessing in the city of Atlanta,” he said. Traffic, often a barrier to prompt response, worked in their favor that day, he noted.
For Nimmo, awakening in the hospital was surreal. He recalls hearing voices, confusion about hitting a building and pondering whether anyone else was hurt. Humor stayed intact even then; for hours, all he could think about was his car. Before the incident, John had just stepped into retirement and was focused on improving his health. He had lost weight and was settling into this new phase. Now, he grapples with the fragility of life intertwined with gratitude for being alive. Meeting Dr. Idowu a few days later helped make sense of it all.
“He is the most genuine, nicest person I’ve ever seen,” Nimmo said of the doctor who helped save him. Dr. Idowu found it unexpectedly emotional too. Accustomed to consoling families in moments of loss, he now stood on the opposite side, sharing in their relief. “It's not common,” he said. Nimmo now carries forward not just his own second chance, but the gratitude for the man who refused to let him slip away.