Cape city workers perform CPR on man stricken while mowing

Eugene Robinson and his fellow Cape Girardeau city maintenance workers had planned to trim trees on Elm Street early on March 29. However, they delayed the job until later in the day, a decision that saved a man's life.

Robinson said he and other co-workers were cutting trees on Elm Street when they saw Floyd Strop fall down while mowing. They performed CPR on Strop until paramedics arrived.

"I've worked for the city a long time and have been trained in CPR each year," said Robinson, who is in his 13th year as a city employee. "You wonder if you'll ever have to use your training and read about an ordinary guy using CPR to save another person's life. But you don't ever know if that person will be you."

A week after the incident Robinson visited Strop at his home. Robinson said he introduced himself as the man who broke Strop's ribs.

"I told him I was sorry, but he said two ribs didn't matter," Robinson said. "He was just happy to be alive. A lot of times things don't work so good, but we're blessed he made it through fine."

Strop said he doesn't remember anything other than falling down. But he's grateful that Robinson and the others were there at the right place at the right time.

"If it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't have made it," Strop said.

Robinson called the experience one of the most memorable of his life.

"For me, it's rewarding when you could save someone's life," Robinson said. "We do so much with tree removal and cleaning up damage from storms that are rewarding by themselves, but when you can save someone's life it's a real treat. Maybe not for him, but for all of us it was something we'll always remember."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

243-6635

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO