Jack Hancock Sr. wouldn’t be alive today if it hadn’t been for his son, Jack Hancock Jr. To hear the younger Hancock tell it, he played a minor role in his father’s survival, but like any good gentleman and true hero, he’s just being modest.
A firefighter with the Little Rock Fire Department, 32-year-old Jack Jr. is the only child of Jack Hancock Sr. and Sheryl Hancock. A little over a year ago, Jack Jr. was getting ready to visit his parents’ home in Vilonia for their weekly family dinner when his mother sent him a text and told him to come early — his father wasn’t feeling well.
The elder Hancock — a volunteer with the Vilonia Fire Department who also works for Raven Services at the Clinton Presidential Library — had cut down a tree that morning and was feeling weak and ill by mid-day.
When Jack Jr. arrived, his two young children in tow, his dad was complaining of jaw pain and extreme thirst. While standing at the kitchen counter getting water, Jack Jr. noticed his father swaying back and forth. “I asked if he was ok, and he said he felt dizzy,” he remembers. “As soon as he answered, his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. I caught him on his way to the floor and we both went down.”
At that moment, Jack Jr.’s years of training as a first responder kicked into high gear. He yelled for his mother to call 9-1-1 as he tried to assess the situation. Adrenaline pumping, he decided in an instant that his father was suffering a heart attack and began to react accordingly.
“Since it was a witnessed attack, I knew I had a little time,” he says. “I ran to my truck and got the adult B.V.M. [bag, valve, mask] that I kept behind the seat with a first aid kit. When I came back into the room, I heard Vilonia going available from a medical run nearby. I grabbed dad’s radio, radioed dispatch and requested Vilonia Fire Department to a cardiac arrest ‘code,’ meaning I was beginning CPR.”
The younger Hancock performed a head tilt chin lift, gave at least two rescue breaths and began performing CPR. The Vilonia FD first responders showed up moments later, hooked up the automatic electronic defibrillator (AED) and began shocking Jack Sr.’s heart back to life.
“After he was shocked the sixth time, he took a breath on his own and began a regular heart rhythm again,” Jack Jr. says. The elder Hancock was then airlifted to Baptist Health in Little Rock, where the heart team led by Dr. Collins took over.
“The Vilonia Fire Department, along with the incredible MEMS, Air Evac crews and heart team at Baptist Health saved my dad. What I did was very minor in comparison to what those others did for us,” says Jack Jr., humbly. “Papa is here today because of the great training and rapid response of all involved parties. I will never be able to thank them enough.”
Jack Sr. says if it hadn’t been for his son’s quick response, he wouldn’t have made it. “Normally people don’t survive the type of heart attack I had. There are few symptoms, then suddenly you’re down and out. Dr. Collins told me I was a patient who never should have lived. But he said he knew when I started fighting the throat tube that I was gonna make it,” he smiles, then turns serious again.
“But for my son to take everything he’s been trained to do and bring it down to that moment and apply it to a family member, with his mother and kids watching … ” getting misty-eyed, Jack Sr. trails off. “It wasn’t my time to go.”
For his heroic actions, Jack Hancock Jr. is being honored at the Jan. 29 American Red Cross Heroes Luncheon, held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Little Rock Hotel and powered by Verizon and Nokia Siemens. Guests at the luncheon will hear Jack Hancock Jr.’s story, as well as the powerful, heart-warming stories of many other Arkansas heroes.
Skip Rutherford, dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, will also be honored as the Clara Barton Distinguished Humanitarian of the Year. “Skip, his staff, students and guests of the School of Public Service have been generous financial supporters as well as hands-on with Red Cross programs,” says Brigette Williams, communications information officer for the American Red Cross in Arkansas. “Skip has a long history of volunteerism and active engagement for the betterment of Arkansas.”
Rutherford joins an impressive roster of previous Clara Barton honorees who Williams says support the Red Cross and work daily to bolster the safety and preparedness of Arkansans, including Gov. Mike Beebe; Windstream President & CEO Jeff Gardner; Entergy Arkansas, Inc. President & CEO Hugh McDonald; former FEMA Director James Lee Witt; former Undersecretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson; and former Gov. Mike Huckabee.
The American Red Cross has a long history of caring for Arkansans, and the scope of its efforts in the state is astounding. Williams says that every five minutes an Arkansan is touched by the work of the Red Cross. “The American Red Cross in Arkansas responds to more than 1,500 disasters in Arkansas, primarily residential fires,” she says. “In addition to fires and natural events such as tornadoes and flash floods, Red Cross Disaster Responders provide support to first responders at prolonged incidents, such as search and rescue events or transportation accidents or workplace incidents. We also provide preparation tips and information in advance of known events such as severe weather, including urging Arkansans to download one of Red Cross’ apps, as Tornado or Earthquake, both of which provide much-needed guidance and alerts.”
Assisting Arkansans on a very personal level in the face of disaster is at the core of the Red Cross mission. “Red Cross workers are with families as they say goodbye to new recruits headed off to boot camp, and we provide comfort to military families as they face the loss of a loved one in combat. Our volunteers also provide care to active and retired military, including veterans who have fallen on hard times,” Williams says.
Residential fires are the Red Cross’ number one disaster response, and as such, the organization helps numerous Arkansas families dealing with residential fires find lodging, and provides them with a gift card for food and clothing.
In addition to blood drives, the Red Cross is perhaps most known for its safety training programs, in which the organization teaches everyone from children to new parents life-saving tactics, like fire and water safety, first aid and CPR.
“The work of the Red Cross and the care provided is varied, but is continually focused on empowering the public to be prepared with the knowledge and skills to prevent and respond to emergencies of all kinds,” Williams says. “We are there when you need us.”
As for the Arkansas Heroes luncheon, Williams emphasizes that in addition to being a fundraiser to support local disaster relief, it provides an opportunity to give real-life examples of the importance of Red Cross health and safety training. She’s excited to share the heroic stories of real Arkansans who have gone above and beyond to save the lives of fellow citizens.
“Their rescues are short of breathtaking,” Williams says. “All of the heroes leave guests in awe and wondering what they would have done in their place. Over the years, we’ve honored heroes from age 5 and up. It’s not age, but unexpected circumstances and the use of learned skills and awareness that make a hero.”
Red Cross Heroes Luncheon
When: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29
Where: DoubleTree by Hilton Little Rock Hotel
Tickets: $1,500 per table of eight
Info: 748-1030, www.RedCross.org/Arkansas
Saving lives is all in a day’s work for first responders. But those who can spring into action during the most difficult circumstances, like Jack Hancock Jr. did when his father suffered a heart attack in front of him, are called heroes.
Military vet Jack Hancock Sr., right, says he wouldn’t be alive today if not for the heroic actions of his Little Rock Fire Department firefighter son, Jack Hancock Jr., left.
Jack Hancock Jr.