Passenger who gave CPR to COVID victim on airline flight now has symptoms, he says

When a fellow passenger fell ill Monday on a cross-country United Airlines flight, emergency medical technician Tony Aldapa knew he had to help.

“Knowing I had the knowledge, training and experience to help out, I could not have sat idly by and watched someone die,” Aldapa wrote on Twitter.

He and two others performed CPR on the dying passenger for nearly an hour, Aldapa wrote.

But the man died at a hospital after United Flight 591, bound from Orlando to Los Angeles, diverted to New Orleans, McClatchy News previously reported.

United Airlines reported Friday it has been in contact with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after finding the passenger had COVID-19 symptoms, McClatchy reported.

On Tuesday, Louisiana officials confirmed that Isaias Hernandez, 69, of Los Angeles died of coronavirus, NBC News reported.

The airline says the man did not disclose whether he’d tested positive before boarding the flight, according to the publication.

Now Aldapa, who finished the flight to Los Angeles after the diversion, says he’s also showing signs of COVID-19, KCBS reported.

“Essentially I just feel like I got hit by a train,” he said, according to the station. “I had a cough, my whole body still hurt, I had a headache.”

Aldapa said the passenger’s wife told him they were flying home to Los Angeles for a coronavirus test after he began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, KCBS reported.

“I knew the risks involved in performing CPR on someone that potentially has COVID but I made the choice to do so anyways,” Aldapa wrote on Twitter. He’s waiting to be contacted by the CDC and United Airlines.

This story was originally published December 20, 2020 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Passenger who gave CPR to COVID victim on airline flight now has symptoms, he says."