PLUM ISLAND, Mass. (WHDH) — Dixie Patterson saw a frantic sight when she looked down the beach, and immediately ran to help.
“A young girl being dragged out of the water,” said Patterson. “She was clearly unconscious and not breathing.”
She immediately started CPR.
“After a couple small cycles, she started breathing on her own,” said Patterson.
The girl’s mother told Patterson she thought her daughter had a seizure while swimming.
“Luckily there were people in the water who pulled her out,” she said.
But Patterson is no stranger to saving lives. She works in a doctor’s office as a medical assistant and she happened to volunteer at the Boston Marathon finish line this year.
“I like to think we made a good difference,” said Patterson.
And when people called her a hero, she said she was just doing what felt right.
“A lot of us from the marathon, people wanted to use that word…it feels uncomfortable. We did what people train in medicine to do,” said Patterson.
She said at the marathon and at the beach, she just did what she’s been trained to do.
“I’d like to know who the girl was…I would love to hear how she’s doing,” said Patterson.