After almost dying on a Philly street, she wanted to find those who helped save her life — and restored her faith in humanity
Often lost in all the stories about how cruel we can be to one another are examples of how everyday Philadelphians also step up to help one another.
Joyce Jones was lying in a hospital bed when she did something she usually wouldn’t do, even under normal circumstances: She turned her phone’s camera on herself to record a public plea.
“Y’all know I don’t really do no videos, and I definitely don’t do none in the hospital, but I’m blessed to be here today,” Jones, dressed in a hospital gown, said. “Philadelphia is a big little city, so I know somebody knows these people — and I really need to find [them].”
In the short video Jones posted to Instagram on Jan. 18, the 54-year-old explained that a few nights earlier, she had suffered a severe asthma attack and likely would have died on the street if not for a group of strangers who came to her rescue.
When I called Jones, she said she and her husband, Ottis, were watching television in their West Philadelphia home when her chest tightened and her breathing became labored. They decided to drive to the hospital but were in the car for just a few minutes when she fell unconscious.
This is where Ottis filled in the blanks. In a panic, he remembered that there was a police RV stationed at 52nd and Market Streets, so he rushed there.
“My wife’s not breathing,” he yelled as he pounded on the side of the vehicle. “Please help me.”
The officer inside took Joyce out of the car, laid her on the pavement, and began performing CPR. Soon, a woman who Ottis believes had just gotten off a nearby bus jumped in to help, identifying herself as a nurse.
As Ottis watched the officer and the nurse try to revive his wife of 20 years, everything turned into a blur. He was inconsolable until a group of bystanders took turns propping him up, encouraging him to stay focused.
“You have to stay strong,” the men said. “You have to be there for your wife.”
The officer and the nurse got Joyce breathing, but she needed urgent care.
The paramedics would be there in six minutes, but the nurse said Joyce didn’t have that much time.
That’s when the officer called for reinforcements, and two more police officers showed up. They put her in their cruiser, with one officer driving and another in the back seat with Joyce, continuing CPR as they sped to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania — Cedar Avenue. Ottis followed behind.
Ottis had been too distraught to recall the officers’ names. But he’d never forget how they stayed with him at the hospital until his wife was stabilized.
Joyce was exhausted by the ordeal, but after her husband told her what had transpired, she was determined to find the people who saved her life — and in the process, restored her faith in humanity.
“I’ve been in the city all my life, and lately all you seem to hear about is a lot of violence and chaos,” she told me. “So just the fact that these complete strangers all played a part in helping me, I had to try to find them.”
The day Joyce posted her video, I had been reading about the arrests of three people in a November attack on a school crossing guard, disgusted at the lack of basic human decency so often on display in this world.
Coming across Joyce’s video was a welcome boost and the countless positive comments her post received were a testament that others felt the same.
Joyce said she had exchanged some messages with a community relations officer in the hopes of identifying the three officers. In the meantime, I made some calls of my own to help initiate a reunion. The following week, we met at the 18th Police District on Pine Street to put names to the men she only knew as her “angels”: Officer Lamar Johnson, who initially performed CPR on Joyce, and Officers Tyler White and Yaasim Thompson, who rushed her to the hospital.
The trio was pleased to see that Joyce had recovered, but were insistent that their actions were just part of the job.
When Ottis called Johnson a hero, the officer quietly demurred.
The job is often unpredictable, they said, so being able to come together to help someone in need was “a good day.”
But Joyce wasn’t going to let them get off that easily.
She hugged each of them tight. “I so appreciate you all,” she said.
There are tensions that can’t be ignored between some Philadelphians and the police department, even on the best days.
“I’ve met some not-so-nice cops,” Joyce told the officers. But, she added, she hoped that sharing her experience with them could help build better relationships between police and all the communities they serve.
Joyce still wants to find the nurse who got off the bus and stepped in to help, and the bystanders who supported Ottis. I hope that they or someone they know sees her video or this column because a grateful couple very much wants to say thank you.
I also hope that the Joneses’ experience serves as a reminder that we’re all a little bit better — as individuals and as a city — when we rush off the bus to help someone who’s sick or injured, when we hold up a distraught husband. When every day we choose kindness.