2020 has been an eventful year for 21-year old Virginia native Kenzie Cox. In April, she married U.S. Coast Guardsman Corey Cox. In May, she graduated from Rappahahock Community College with a nursing degree. In June, she joined her husband stationed at the Boothbay Harbor Coast Guard Base. And in November, she saved a man’s life.

On Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, Cox was waiting in the small mall parking lot for her medical appointment at Boothbay Regional Health Center. Cox was in her car and saw a man walking toward the parking lot. He suddenly collapsed. He fell to his knees before falling over and eventually was laying on his side. “It was like seeing a person drop to his knees after learning they had lost a child,” she said. “It was raining, and I wondered why he didn’t get up. So I got out of the car, and checked on him.”

Cox found the man unresponsive. So she checked his breathing and pulse. “He was breathing, but his heartbeat was pumping like it was coming out his chest,” she said. Cox laid the man on his back, then a few moments later, he turned blue. Cox is a licensed practical nurse. She believed the man was in cardiac arrest. “His heart stopped so I began CPR, and after 20 compressions, he started moving,” Cox said.

Another man emerged from Dollar General store and assisted by calling 911. Boothbay Region Ambulance Service treated the collapsed man shortly afterward. On Dec. 9, Cox was recognized by Coast Guard First District Rear Admiral Thomas G. Allan Jr. during a visit to the Boothbay Harbor base. The admiral presented her with a Coast Guard Challenge coin.

“It was a really big honor. Not many people meet the admiral, and I’m not even in the Coast Guard, my husband is,” Cox said. “He was going to be there anyway, and asked to meet me. He presented me with a coin, and had our picture taken.”

The admiral was not alone in recognizing Cox’s heroism. Several newspaper, radio and television reports also documented her life-saving act. Cox has been delayed in receiving her state nurse’s certification in either Maine or Virginia due to the coronavirus. She is currently working at the Boothbay Harbor Hannaford’s. Her fellow employees tell her each time they see a news report about her. “I didn’t see it on Channel 6, but a couple of my co-workers told me they saw it last night (Dec. 10),” Cox said. 

Boothbay Harbor Police Department posted an account of her actions on the department’s Facebook page. The post read “On this day before Thanksgiving, please join us in being thankful for Kenzie, her quick recognition, medical knowledge, and selfless action at a scene which most likely saved a man’s life. “

So how does Cox react to all the attention resulting from her heroic act? She believes medical personnel who save lives on a daily basis during the coronavirus pandemic are more deserving.  “Honestly, I hate to say it, but I don’t feel I deserve to be honored in this type of way. There are so many nurses and others, at this second, who are saving lives. So I don't want to take away what others are doing.”