Northeast Metro Tech senior recognized for life-saving efforts in Saugus incident

WAKEFIELD — When Northeastern senior Sebastian Kadavid walked into a Wendy’s in Saugus last summer for a biggie bag, he didn’t expect it to come with a life-saving quote, but that’s what happened.

Kadavid was recognized as a heart-saving hero this fall by the American Heart Association after performing life-saving CPR on a woman who had passed out in a bathroom.

Kadavid, a student in Northeastern’s dental program, arrived at the restaurant on June 29 with friends at the Agannis All-Star football game in Lynn, just before the end of last school year.

While waiting for their food, Kadavid heard calls for help from around the restroom, then saw a woman suffering from a seizure on the floor. Recently recertified in CPR – a direct result of his work on a dental assisting course in the North East – Kadavid jumped in to help.

He determined the woman had no pulse and immediately began chest compressions, which eventually brought the woman back to consciousness as police and firefighters responded.

“I don’t know what came over me, but I thought to myself, ‘I know CPR,'” Kadavid said. “(Afterwards) I was just like: ‘Wow, that’s what I did.’

“As vocational educators, we love to see the skills and theories our students learn in action, but this exceeded our expectations and had a huge impact on someone else’s life,” said Erin Selvitella, assistant professor of dentistry. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The Heart Saver Hero Award is presented by the American Heart Association to people in the community who perform CPR in emergency situations. Selvitella presented the award to the 2023 class president and football team member – at the end of November.