Tax Worker Saves Kentucky Man's Life

Worker calls 911 after man has heart attack during phone call
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 22, 2010 8:44 AM CDT
Tax Worker Saves Kentucky Man's Life
Brown says she eventually got an answer to her query about Phillips' income tax bill.   (Shutter Stock)

Few people welcome phone calls from government bean-counters, but for one 60-year-old Kentucky man, that call turned out to be a lifesaver. Department of Revenue employee Natalie Brown, who had called Earl Phillips with a question about his income tax bill, verified his address and called 911 after noticing that he was breathing heavily and sounded ill, the AP reports. Turns out he was having a heart attack; doctors found a 90% blockage in one of his arteries.

Phillips, who had no history of heart trouble, says he started feeling ill during the call but didn't want to tell a total stranger that he needed help. "I'm very proud of that lady," Phillips told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "She saved my life." Brown—whose boss can't recall another instance of a tax worker saving somebody's life—says she believes state employees are there to help the public anyway they can. (More Kentucky stories.)

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