April 10--Charles Long watched his younger brother collapse on the floor at his automotive shop Saturday morning.
But Long says it's the quick actions of an Alabama state trooper that helped save his 36-year-old brother's life, who has Down syndrome.
"In less than two to three minutes, that state patrolman was here, and he sure saved my brother's life," Long said. "Me and my wife brought him back to life two different times. He died again and then the state trooper got there, and he helped me bring him back a third time."
As Long attempted to revive his brother, Clayton Taylor Long, his wife, Karen, his two sons, ages 10 and 12, went to go get help.
"I was leaving the office and I saw two little boys running toward me waving their hands frantically. 'Something is wrong is with my uncle. He is dead,' they said," state trooper Virgil Bowen recalled.
Bowen drove his trooper vehicle down the service road along Montgomery Highway to an automotive shop on the other side of Dothan Lanes. He found a man on his back on the ground just outside the business.
"He was blue in the face and his family was a little frantic," Bowen said. "I told his brother to go ahead and breathe for him. I basically initiated CPR on him. The longer I was there giving him chest compressions he slowly started getting his normal color back."
Bowen then helped keep Clayton Long stabilized until paramedics arrived.
According to a statement from the Alabama State Highway Patrol, emergency medical technicians found that Clayton Long had a pulse and took him to Flowers Hospital, where he is listed in stable condition. The state trooper's statement said Long had apparently suffered a heart attack.
Long said he owns Christian Heavy Equipment and Automotive Repair in Dothan located on the other side of the Dothan Lanes bowling alley, but his mother and brother, Clayton, just moved to Taylor last week from Georgia.
"He's still on life support, and he opened his eyes for the first time this morning," Long said. "There's been a lot of progress."
Thankful
Long said he and his family were so thankful for Bowen's actions , he went to the state highway patrol office to thank Bowen's supervisors.
"My wife and I didn't know nothing about CPR and he helped me save his life," Long said. "It meant everything to me and family what he did. He helped save a human life, and you can't put money on a human life. He went above and beyond the call of duty if you ask me."
Bowen, who serves as a defense tactics instructor for the state highway patrol, said he learned CPR training through his service in the military and through his basic law enforcement training. Bowen has served as an Alabama state trooper for about a year and a half, about three years at the Barbour County Sheriff's Office and served as a corrections officer for a prison in Georgia. He also served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
"It's awesome to be able to apply those skills you learn and actually see them work out for a family," Bowen said.
Long said he hopes Bowen gets recognized for taking the extra effort to help his brother's life.
"You meet a lot of state patrol, and I've even been stopped by one of them ," Long said. "This one here was extra nice. So many times people take it for granted what they do. To me they don't get the recognition they deserve. He gave us back some precious moments we otherwise might not have had."
Bowen, a Eufaula resident, said when he saw the boys running toward him he was just about to head back to Barbour County, where he works patrol as a state trooper.
"I'm just glad I was there at the right place at the right time," Bowen said. "It's just an act of God. God puts people in certain situations for certain reasons."
Bowen recalled another state trooper who recently wrote a woman a ticket on the highway and then a few minutes later stopped to help her change a blown tire on her vehicle.
"It's more than just getting out there and writing tickets," Bowen said. "I'm a big believer in community policing. It's about letting people know cops aren't the bad guys. We're not out there to hurt anybody. We're actually out there to help people."
Copyright 2012 - Dothan Eagle, Ala.
