Peruvian-American Lawyer Helps Save Stricken Man on Independence Day

St. Louis, Missouri … Quick work by a mother and daughter jogging on the running track at Parkway North High School on July 4th helped save a man who had passed out from dehydration and heat exhaustion from potentially more dangerous medical distress.

Jalesia “Jasha” McQueen and her mother Julia of Creve Coeur were running laps on the track at 1:30 p.m. when they saw a woman screaming beside a man who was slumped on a bench.

Jasha, an experienced long-distance runner who formerly worked in medical services as a captain in the U.S. Army, and her mother, a former undercover federal agent from Lima, Peru now living in Creve Coeur, ran to the man’s assistance.

“The woman was very upset and crying, trying to revive the man, but he was very pale and his lips were blue – he was not responsive,” says Jasha, who is Peruvian-American.

“I checked his pulse and made sure he wasn’t choking and could breathe – he woke up twice, but passed out again both times, with his eyes rolling up into his head,” she says. “I told my mother, ‘Keep him awake! Keep him awake!’ so I could use my cell phone to call 911.”

As Julia patted the man’s face to keep him revived, another man running on the track stopped to assist, and began pouring cold water over the stricken man’s forehead. When he saw that Julia is Peruvian, the man said he was from Brazil. James McQueen, who is Jasha’s father and Julia’s husband, also arrived trackside to help as the stricken man fell in and out of consciousness.

“Paramedics got there within five minutes of my call then rushed the guy to a nearby hospital for treatment,” says Jasha, who is an attorney practicing immigration law at the firm Gallop, Johnson & Neuman in Clayton.

“He called my Mom that night to thank us for saving him and to say that on doctor’s orders he would return to the hospital later for medical tests. He said his name was ‘Mark’ – but that’s all.

“To me, he had gotten dehydrated and suffered heat exhaustion while sprinting on the track in hot, humid weather. I’d guess he was in his mid-thirties, but heat exhaustion can happen to anyone who doesn’t prepare adequately for strenuous exercise, especially on a hot day,” says Jasha, a marathon runner and tri-athlete.

“I am really glad that guy is OK,” says Jasha. “The interesting thing to me is that this happened on Independence Day – the Fourth of July – and it involved my Mom, who is from Peru, my Dad, who is Scottish, a man from Brazil who happened to pass by and me – and we are all American citizens.”

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