SANDY, Utah — A Sandy man needs help finding the Good Samaritan who literally saved his life Monday.
Yury Korkishko was in his backyard in the afternoon when he was stung by wasps and started suffering an allergic reaction.
“It was harder and harder to breathe,” said Korkishko.
While his wife, Lidia, was driving him to the hospital, Korkishko lost consciousness, forcing the couple to pull over on 1300 East to wait for an ambulance.
“I couldn’t do anything,” recalled Korkishko. “I was dead.”
Passing drivers stopped to get him out of the car, and incredibly, one woman happened to have an EpiPen on hand.
“She wasn’t afraid,” Korkishko said. “She did it and she saved me.”
The Korkishkos moved from Ukraine to Utah 30 years ago. They’re touched by all the people who jumped in to help.
“You don’t see that every day,” said Korkishko’s son, Alex. “You see all the chaos. Where we’re from, our city’s destroyed. But here, people love each other.”
Korkishko stayed overnight at Alta View Hospital and was discharged Tuesday afternoon. He said he’s doing OK.
“At least I start to breathe, it’s very nice,” said Korkishko. “It’s better than alcohol.”
Now, the Korkishkos hope to track down the woman with the EpiPen who doctors say saved his life.
“I want to meet you at least to say thank you very much for everything,” said Korkishko.
“I hope you can come forward so we can thank you personally,” said Alex. “I get to live another year with my dad, so thank you.”
Monday wasn’t Korkishko's first close-call with death. Last year, he had to be rescued by the National Guard after being swept away in a river in the Alaskan wilderness.
A sergeant with the Sandy Police Department emailed FOX 13 News shortly after this story was aired and published, saying they were at the scene and had reached out to the woman who saved Korkishko in hopes to reunite them.
