Deborah Stone stood outside Oakview Elementary School on March 4, like she did every Tuesday and Friday, to pick up her grandson, Declan. Except on this day, she felt “a little off” and leaned against the West Deptford school’s fence.
Before she knew it Stone, 56, had collapsed — her heart stopped during the busy dismissal.
Cindy Cobb, the school nurse, and Laura Diezmos, a nurse and parent, raced to help Stone and performed CPR on her for about 18 minutes until paramedics arrived.
“They saved me,” Stone told NJ Advance Media this week while fighting back tears. “The EMTs said I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the school, the nurse, and for what they did, their fast-thinking.”
While it’s been two months since the harrowing experience, Laura Sandy, principal at Oakview Elementary School in West Deptford, said the community continues to think about the life-saving actions of Cobb and Diezmos. And with National Nurses Week spanning May 6 to Thursday, they said it was just one of a long list of reasons to express gratitude for Cobb’s dedication to the schoolchildren throughout the years.
Cobb recalled Stone’s appearance when she arrived to help.
She was pale, her pulse was not detectable, and she was letting out gasps “instead of real respirations,” Cobb said. It was in stark contrast to how Stone looked a little over two weeks later after a six-day hospital stay and recovery at home.
“I did see her probably not quite a month later. She came in to say thank you,” Cobb said. “It was so nice to see her face and give her a hug and know that she was okay. (Stone) looked very well so that was comforting.”
Stone and her family joined the school in recognizing Cobb’s devotion to her profession on National School Nurses Day on Wednesday.
“Our school community is honored to have her here. Not just because of that event, but all the little things she does every single day for our school,” said Sandy. “It’s been extremely busy during the time of COVID, and she’s spearheaded a lot of things to support our procedures for the district as well as the tasks she deals with every day in the nurse’s office.”
Drawn to helping people
Cobb, a nurse for 28 years, has spent her 11 years as a school nurse in the West Deptford Public Schools working at Oakview Elementary School in the town where she lives.
She graduated from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) in 1994, before getting training as a nurse practitioner and earning a master’s degree from Rutgers University-Newark in 2002.
“I went (to Trenton State College) for nursing … where I also played women’s soccer. I’m very proud to say we won an NCAA championship my senior season in 1993. So that was exciting,” said Cobb, remembering her days as captain of the team and defensive full back. “Obviously it was challenging to play soccer and do the nursing curriculum, but I made it work.”
Cobb said she’s always had a resilient spirit and intellectual curiosity, extending to today as she serves as the president of the Gloucester County School Nurses Association.
“At this age of 50, I’m also in the midst of a doctoral program that I’m taking, which is an online program at Thomas Edison State University,” Cobb said. “I’m only about a third of the way through that but that was something that was always on my bucket list.”
Oakview Elementary School nurse Cindy Cobb helps student with asthma use his inhaler, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. On March 4, Cobb performed CPR on a student's grandparent until the paramedics arrived.Zachary Maat | For NJ Advance Media
The daughter of two schoolteachers, Cobb said since her high school days she was always drawn to helping people.
Working with kids at Oakview Elementary School has continued to motivate her, Cobb said, a mother of three sons herself. And even after she enters the next phase of her career (“I would maybe like to retire to Florida”), Cobb said she will always have her equipment handy and her CPR certificate up to date to help people like Stone.
“Of course, absolutely, any healthcare provider would do the same,” Cobb said.
For Stone, who has a heart condition, she’s still adjusting to having had a pacemaker implanted to jumpstart her heart in an emergency. Doctors told her she went into cardiac arrest and they are still determining the exact cause.
But, she said, she never runs out of things to be thankful for regarding March 4.
For instance, that Declan — who calls Stone his “Grammy Mommy” — was kept inside with his classmates while she was being attended to.
“I didn’t want him to see me like that,” Stone said. “My grandson lost his grandfather just a couple months back. He’s lost his aunt and cousin as well in a few months. For him to lose his grandfather and grandmother in a matter of weeks, I don’t know what that would have done to him.”
Sitting at home recovering this week, she said she’s counting down days until she can pick up her grandson again.
“Yes, I’m just about 100% and I feel better than I was. I feel energetic,” said Stone.
School nurse Cindy Cobb gives snacks and juice to a student who wasn't feeling well at Oakview Elementary School in West Deptford, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. On March 4, Cobb performed CPR on a student's grandparent until the paramedics arrived.Zachary Maat | For NJ Advance Media
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Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @stevenrodasnj.