A Columbus woman died on Tuesday morning after becoming unconscious in the car she was driving.
Helen Hollis, 45, was driving east on Fifth Avenue North with her daughter, Tyeshia Hollis, and granddaughter, Aryanna, 3, when she passed out at the wheel around 6:30 a.m., Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said.
Hollis was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and pronounced dead shortly after 8 a.m. Although Merchant hasn”t issued a death certificate yet, he said he believes her death was unrelated to the crash.
“She, without a doubt, had some cardiac issues going on.,” Merchant said. “She did have a history of high blood pressure. She had also seen a physician in the past few days, and that”s something I”m looking into.”
According to the police report, Helen Hollis slumped over in the driver”s seat of her 1995 Dodge Neon. Tyeshia Hollis got out and yelled for help, but the car accelerated and struck a light pole, breaking the pole at its base. The vehicle came to rest after hitting a parked car about 30 yards farther down the street.
Janice Parker, who lives on Fifth Avenue North, said she awoke when she heard a loud crash outside.
“I heard the noise and looked out the window and immediately knew something was wrong because I saw that light pole leaning,” Parker said.
Parker ran outside to help.
“I couldn”t open the doors at first, but I reached in from the left side to touch the woman”s arm and called to her, but there was no response,” Parker said. After paramedics arrived and began trying to revive Hollis with oxygen and CPR, Parker focused her attention on comforting Hollis” daughter and granddaughter.
“Her daughter told me she had high blood pressure, and from that moment I knew it was probably a heart attack or stroke,” said Parker, who used to work for a cardiology company in California. “Hypertension can be a silent killer.”
Parker stressed how vital it is for family members to be aware of each other”s medical history.
“It”s so important for young people to know what kind of medical problems their parents have so that when a trauma happens they can respond,” she said. “We live in a high stress society. Especially with women, we get so busy taking care of others that we don”t take care of ourselves.”
Lee-Sykes Funeral Home is handling services for Hollis. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church on 19th Street South.
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