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Senior Corporal Jimmy Thongrivong, a Dallas bike cop, died March 30. He’s better now, though.
Thongrivong, who collapsed of a heart attack on patrol before being rushed to Baylor Hospital, is going home. Dr. James Choi, the interventional cardiologist treating Thongrivong, was asked at a press conference Thursday what was wrong with the officer when he arrived at the hospital last month.
“He was dead,” Choi said. Thongrivong’s heart had lost both electrical and mechanical function by the time he got to Baylor, where doctors were able to restart his heart.
Lieutenant Earnest Sherman, who was working as Thongrivong’s partner for the first time on March 30, said he and Thongrivong were headed to a call just after eating lunch when Thongrivong collapsed. With help from a bystander, Sherman, whose wife is a paramedic, gave his partner CPR for the 20 minutes that passed before an ambulance arrived.
“I guess my Christmas is coming early this year,” Thongrivong said.
He didn’t remember anything between falling off of his bike and waking up in the hospital days later, he said Thursday.
