Off-duty firefighter and nurse couple save neighbor's life after he collapses outside their door

A York County couple ended up saving their neighbor's life who was about to get married in a few weeks. Chris Favorin felt his upper body cramping and knew something was terribly wrong. He told his fiancée, Beth Villarreal, that he thought he was having a heart attack and felt he didn't have enough time to wait for an ambulance. Luckily for him, his neighbors, nurse practitioner Rachel Mowry, 31, and her firefighter/EMT husband Christopher, 39, were home at the time, and upon seeing their cars in the driveway, he decided to head there.

Favorin went to his neighbor’s porch and rang their doorbell but very quickly collapsed. The couple were shocked to see their neighbor in distress and quickly sprung to action. He was pale and sweaty and was having convulsions. They began to worry as they called 911 and performed chest compressions. “We just did our job,” Christopher said, per Echo-Pilot. Rachel admitted that despite being the professional she is, she "was thinking, God, please help me.” She said, “I was praying the whole time.”  

The duo performed non-stop CPR compressions for 14 minutes before getting a pulse. Two minutes later, Favorin's heart stopped again but they managed to bring him back a second time. Fortunately, EMS arrived in six minutes and he was quickly rushed to the hospital. Witnessing the whole ordeal was his terrified fiancée who thought her worst fears would come true and that she might lose him.“They just didn’t want me to see what was going on,” she said. “I was so worked up. I thought I was going to lose Chris. I was so scared.” The pair had been together for 15 years and were planning to tie the knot on September 10, 2022.

“Just keep me alive for the wedding,” Favorin reportedly told Rachel. Unbelievably, doctors discovered a blockage in his left anterior descending cardiac artery called a “widow maker.” “My soon-to-be wife is not going to be a widow,” Favorin said. Rachel added, “Somehow, God put me and my husband in the right place at the right time.” 

Fortunately, 53-year-old Favorin made it through and is grateful the Mowrys were there to save him. “I believe god put them in my path that day,” he said, per Inside Edition. The Mowrys got to see the couple tie the knot on their special day and had special mentions in their vows. “Without them being there, I know I would not have made it,” Favorin said. “They're heroes in my eyes; the best neighbors anyone can have,” Beth added.