Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — A Clifton Springs family is expressing gratitude to Bills Mafia after fans at Highmark Stadium helped save a man’s life during Thursday night’s game.
“She saved my dad’s life, and what do you say, how do you thank someone?” said Candice Dodge, whose father was the man in distress.
During the opening drive of the Bills-Dolphins game, 68-year-old Brian Dodge experienced a heart issue in the stands.
“He was going down and I just kind of got tunnel vision and held him in my hands,” Candice recounted. “And all of a sudden, the Bills Mafia just started recognizing that something was wrong, and they were like ‘Do you need help?’ And they started screaming and yelling for help way louder than the section had to be.”
Nurse Danielle Johnson, a Bills fan, was nearby and quickly intervened.
“Danielle, who I found out was the nurse who saved us, she happened to be walking to the bathroom, and we were sitting on the aisle seat, and so she caught the commotion,” Candice said. “She came over and she saw dad, she recognized that he did not have a pulse, threw him down in the bleachers and immediately began chest compressions.”
Johnson described the scene during an interview with WKBW in Buffalo.
“I just told them I’m a nurse, (asked) is something wrong, and that’s when I saw the gentleman sitting there unresponsive and just kind of falling,” she said.
Doctors later determined that Brian suffered from a heart condition affecting his heart’s natural pacemaker.
Candice expressed her newfound connection to the Bills community.
“It was our second Bills game that we have ever been to, and I think it’s memorable,” she said. “It’s interesting, because I’ll see a Bills decal on a car and it’s like, yeah, those are my people. Because of the Bills Mafia, my dad is alive, and that’s something that I never thought I would get to say.”
Brian is currently staying at Rochester General Hospital, where he is scheduled to undergo surgery for a pacemaker.
Candice mentioned that once her father recovers, they plan to meet with Johnson, joking that she “won’t be able to get rid of them.”