Woman searching for kids who rushed to help after mother's heart attack in Frankfort

FRANKFORT, Ill. (WLS) -- Samantha McCarthy says she is determined to find two young children who rushed to help after her mother suffered a sudden cardiac arrest a week ago Tuesday.

Mary Vazquez collapsed behind the wheel while driving down 80th Avenue, close to her Frankfort home. McCarthy just happened to be with her that day. She says she had just finished an appointment near her mother's home and decided to spend time with her.

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"After my OB's appt that was beside my mom's house I decided to go hang out with her. She had a couple of things to do. She was going to take her dogs to the groomer. I asked her to wait for me," she said.

When Vazquez lost consciousness, McCarthy took control of the car, steering it off the road into a cluster of trees. She called 911 and immediately began chest compressions.

"All I could think of was seeing all these moments that were coming up that she had to be there for and that this couldn't possibly be how she went out."

"Two kids came flying out of a car. I don't remember what the car looked like. I just saw them run across the street," McCarthy said.

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The children - a girl and a boy who appeared to be no older than 10 - ran to help. McCarthy said the boy immediately asked how he could assist.

"He was trying to hand me a water bottle. I could see it from the side of my head. I told him I couldn't stop compressions. I had to keep doing what I was doing. And I saw him reach over my left side and he put the water bottle on my mom's neck," she said.

Vazquez is recovering at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. A brain cancer survivor, she spent four days on a ventilator following the heart attack.

Just an hour after having a pacemaker implanted, Vazquez was able to take part in the gender reveal of her first grandchild.

Now that her mother is expected to recover, McCarthy says she wants to find the children who stopped to help.

"I need them to know that they're little heroes, too. They didn't need to do anything else but be there. I hope one day I get to see them again because my mom wants to give them a hug, too," she said.

Vazquez is expected to be allowed to leave the intensive care unit Wednesday and then spend at least a few days in rehabilitation before returning home.