JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Rep. Ron Hicks had just stepped out of annual state of the judiciary address for a word with painters’ union lobbyist Bruce Holt when the two noticed something weird.

Standing in the rotunda at a barbecue table serving lawmakers lunch, a woman began to seemingly uncontrollably shake around.

“This guy grabbed this girl by the waist – I thought they were joking around. Then her legs were kicking under the table. She was in a seizure,” he said.

Lauren, age 24, fell to the ground, and Hicks and Holt ran over to help.

“I started asking him questions, ‘has this happened before,’ and he said no,” Hicks said. While on the phone with 911, “the girl looks at us and with a blank stare closed her eyes, shut her mouth, and stopped breathing. Her eyelids turned blue, her lips went blue, and her checks started showing the veins.”

Hicks and the man immediately began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and after “three good compressions, she looked right at us.”

Hicks said he found out after that Lauren was on blood thinning medication to treat blood clots and that she had never had a seizure before.

“It scared us! Then the guy started guy’s crying,” Hicks said. It turns out it was the girl’s father. “The father is the real hero. It’s not every day a dad gets to save a life.”

Hicks said he had training in first aid, but had not had to use it for 15 years.