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Man Dies Of Heart Attack On Southwest Flight, Chest Was 'Too Hairy' For Defibrillator

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Photo by Dario Lo Presti via Shutterstock

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A woman says that her husband, who died of a heart attack on a Southwest flight, could not have a defibrillator used right away because flight attendants told her his chest was too hairy.

Jack Jordan, 62, and his wife Caroline were on a flight from Los Angeles to Albuquerque when he suffered a massive heart attack. A physical therapist and hospice nurse administered CPR, but the onboard defibrillator could not be used right away because a flight attendant told Caroline that her husband's chest was too hairy. "I don't expect the airlines or the flight attendants to be nurses or doctors, not anywhere close, but in that kind of a circumstance, one of the first things they should be doing is getting that [defibrillator] hooked up," Caroline told ABC 7.

By the time his chest hair was shaven and the device hooked up, Caroline Jordan says it was too late. Southwest Airlines says they are looking into the incident.

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