- April 19, 2024
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Some people say things happen as a matter of circumstance. Dyson Billings and his wife, Dawn, call it “Godstance,” when something happens that maybe had God’s hand in it.
One of those Godstances happened one day last January and resulted in Billings receiving a proclamation from the City Commission at their Feb. 21 meeting.
Dyson, general manager at AHC Safe and Lock, 54 W. Granada Blvd. was leaving for lunch on Jan. 25 when he saw a customer enter the store. Knowing only Randy Ingersoll, dispatcher, was in the store, he decided to go back in and help the customer.
“I really am proud of you, man.”
BILL PARTINGTON, mayor
While waiting on the customer, Billings heard a groan from Ingersoll’s office. Going back to investigate, he saw Ingersoll lying back in his chair, unconscious and with a faint pulse. Trained in CPR by his mother, a nurse, he performed the breathing and compression procedures while the customer called 911.
Billings said he could hear the siren and it only took about four minutes for the EVAC and Ormond Beach Fire Department to arrive. But it’s true what they say about time slowing down.
“I know it was just a few minutes but it seemed like a lifetime,” he said.
Ingersoll is back at work after a few weeks of recuperation from a heart attack.
“Now I can’t say no to him if he wants me to work overtime,” he joked. “I owe him.”
Recently, Billings got a phone call from the city, asking him to be at the City Commission meeting on Feb. 2. He told the caller that the 7 p.m. meeting time would be difficult because of his wife’s work, not realizing that his wife knew about it and was arranging for other relatives to attend.
He suspected that he was going to be recognized for his actions, but didn’t know the full extent: a proclamation from the city.
“It was kind of a shock and a little embarrassing,” he said.
Billings’ mother, Pam, a nurse at the Gainesville Veterans Affairs Hospital, has showed him how to do CPR.
“I keep him up-to-date,” she said after the commission meeting, pointing out that the Red Cross changes CPR recommendations from time to time.
Upon reading the proclamation, Mayor Bill Partington said he hoped he could get through it without shedding a tear. Billings is the Mayor’s brother-in-law.
“I really am proud of you, man,” Partington said.
The proclamation stated that Feb. 21, 2017, was a day to honor Dyson Billings for his heroic efforts in saving the life of a fellow employee.
Ingersoll had a gift for Dyson at the meeting in a heart-shaped box.
“It was hard finding a heart-shaped box that didn’t say ‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’” he said.
Also at the meeting, Zeli Hayworth, fifth-grader at Tomoka Elementary School, was recognized for winning the national Punt, Pass and Kick Championship on Jan. 29.
City Commissioner Troy Kent said the commission meeting was the coolest City Commission meeting he had been to.
“Having Dyson here, and Randy. It was a beautiful thing tonight,” he said.
