Brighten Your Day

Strangers, Nurses, And A Perfectly Timed Miracle

June 9, 2025

Today's good news story comes from New York City.

It was just another workday morning for 63-year-old Merryl Hoffman. The longtime attorney and former marathon runner was hustling through Manhattan’s Upper East Side on her way to catch the subway — unaware that her heart was about to stop beating.

Despite her active lifestyle and routine checkups following surgery for a leaky mitral valve in her 40s, Hoffman had no warning of the cardiac arrest that would drop her to the ground just outside Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Breast and Imaging Center.

Instead of tragedy, the moment became a testament to perfect timing and human compassion.

Sabrina Castle, Gianna Formisano and Merryl Hoffman | CBS News

The moment Hoffman collapsed, help was already rushing toward her. A patient care technician nearby and a passerby began to assist — but fate had more help waiting. Nurses Sabrina Castle and Gianna Formisano, both on their way to work, happened to walk by just in time.

"We were so shocked. When we were walking up, people were like 'Nurses, nurses!' We didn't know what we were walking into," Formisano told CBS News. "People were grabbing our coffee, taking our bags. It was out of a movie, the way that they were like 'Oh, thank God you're here.'"

Castle and Formisano sprang into action, performing life-saving CPR on Hoffman, whose heart had completely stopped.

According to the American Heart Association, for every minute that passes without CPR after cardiac arrest, the chance of survival decreases by about 7–10%. That means quick action can make a dramatic difference in whether someone lives or dies.

The nurses kept blood flowing manually until paramedics arrived — five long minutes later.

Hoffman was rushed to the hopsital where doctors confirmed that she had suffered a severe arrhythmia. She was intubated and unconscious. Her heart had stopped for several minutes. But thanks to the quick-thinking strangers and off-duty nurses, she survived.

"Without them, I was told, there was no doubt I would have died or been brain dead," Hoffman said. "They absolutely saved my life."

A Chance Reunion

She underwent surgery to receive an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and began her recovery through cardiac rehabilitation. It was during that rehab that a casual conversation led to a stunning discovery: a physiologist overheard Hoffman’s story — and realized his girlfriend was friends with the very nurses who had saved her life.

Soon after, Hoffman reunited with Castle and Formisano for dinner. There, the women shared details of that harrowing morning. The emotional meeting filled in the missing pieces for Hoffman, who had no memory of what happened after she left her apartment.

Since then, the three women have kept in touch. In an almost surreal moment, they recently crossed paths again — on the very sidewalk where Hoffman’s life had once hung in the balance. This time, they paused for a photo. Smiling. Alive. Grateful.

"It was really crazy," Formisano said. "Now you’re alive and well and in a much different state than when we met you the first time."