Muskogee Firefighter Saves His Wife's Life

First responders save lives on a daily basis, but one Muskogee firefighter never thought he would have save his own wife. When firefighter Matt Hampton woke up to his wife barely breathing, he jumped into action. Going from husband, to hero.

“I just feel like I have a second shot at life,” wife Rachel Hampton said. “There is absolutely no doubt I would be sitting here talking if it weren’t for my husband.”

It all happened when Rachel, 32, took some prescribed medication Wednesday morning.

“I set my alarm to take my kids to school the next morning, and the next thing I know I wake up and I am in an ambulance,” said Rachel. 

Her husband Matt, a Muskogee fireman, had noticed her making strange noises in her sleep. “Her lips were blue, her eyes rolled back in her head, unresponsive," Matt recalled. "So I picked her up, ran down the hall, put her on the living room floor, and I called 911.”

Rachel started seizing. With her mouth swollen shut, he had to fight 30 minutes to to get her air. “It was panic, I just remember instantly starting to pray."

Thankfully, he had extensive training from the Muskogee Fire Department. 

“I’m a firefighter so I have done CPR on several people, but never my wife. Thankfully my training came in handy,” said Matt. 

Rachel was taken to Muskogee’s St. Francis Hospital where doctors stabilized her. Doctors say Rachel had an allergic reaction, but they do not know if it was caused by food or the medication she took the morning before. 

Rachel’s life was a gift in more ways than one; the incident and life-saving actions all too place on her husband's birthday. 

“It was his birthday! So, he saved my life on his birthday,” Rachel exclaimed. “He's always been my hero, I just never thought it would be so true.”

Rachel was released from Saint Francis Monday afternoon. The couple hopes their story will inspire others to learn CPR, because you just never know when it will save a life.