On January 4, 2014, in Manhattan, A recognition ceremony will take place during the K-State vs. Oklahoma State basketball
game in which two nurses, Linda Patterson, of Dwight, and her daughter Dani Patterson, of Topeka, will be honored for
saving the life of a K-State fan, according to Dr. Tom Craig, Junction City internist.
This heroic deed happened during the K-State vs. Oklahoma football game on November 23 when a fellow fan sitting
just two rows in front of Linda and Dani suddenly had a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest. While Dani proceeded
with CPR, Linda was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, guiding EMS to their location. The man was transported to
Mercy Regional Medical Center. “He is alive and well today having suffered the cardiac arrest due to the
occlusion of his right coronary artery,” said Dr. Craig.
A pre-game reception will also be held to honor the Pattersons and the other first responders and their families. The
patient will be there to finally meet those who saved his life. An end-game ceremony will celebrate these brave life-savers
as well.
Linda Patterson, a licensed practical nurse, started working for Geary Community Hospital in July 1980 and retired in March
2009. She then came back to work PRN (as needed) for Geary Community Hospital in Dr. Craig’s clinic two months later.
Linda spent most of her 29-year career at GCH as an emergency department nurse.
Dani Patterson is a registered nurse at Stormont Vail Regional Medical Center in Topeka and is a member of the Faculty
Board of the American Heart Association. She worked for GCH in registration in the early 1980s and then as a licensed
practical nurse for Dr. Craig and then as a registered nurse in the mid-1990’s.
-Story by Cyndy Platt, Director Public Relations for Geary Community Hospital.
