Collapsed Runner's Life Probably Saved by Community Police Officer

An East Providence jogger probably owes his life to a police officer who administered CPR to him last Tuesday evening, June 11. 

The Leonard Avenue man, 49, apparently was running on Blanding Avenue about 6 pm when he collapsed in the street. A homeowner on the street spotted the runner and called the police about an “unresponsive” man lying in the road.

Community Police Officer Richard Cordeiro arrived first and found the jogger unconscious with a pool of blood under his head. The man did not seem to be breathing and Cordeiro could not locate a pulse. The blood is believed to have come from the man’s fall. There were no sign of foul play.

The officer immediately began to give the man CPR, which seemed to get the man breathing again. But his breath came and went along with his pulse.

Other East Providence police officers and EMTs arrived soon after Cordeiro began giving the man CPR. A defibrillator eventually was used by EMTs to electrically stimulate the heart.

The man regained consciousness before he was moved to a stretcher and taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he reportedly was making a full recovery, according to Cordeiro in the police report. The officer said he stopped by the man’s room while in the hospital on other business and was told of his condition by family members. 

Blanding Avenue residents told investigating officers that they see the man running in that area of East Providence regularly.  He was wearing running shorts and a vest filled with sand weights.

The man’s identity was determined after Cordeiro made several calls to recent numbers located on a cell phone found in a pocket in the man's vest. The man’s son answered one of the calls, according to the police report.