08/20/2026
Lance Schellpepper remembers reaching down to pet a cute dog after a day of fishing, but after that, everything goes black. It turns out that Lance was having a heart attack, but the owner of the dog happened to be Jennifer Card, who works as a physician's assistant with Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgical Associates and cares for patients at Baptist Health. She began CPR immediately. 🚨
“I've got an angel in heaven, my wife, and I got an angel on earth. That's her,” Lance said. 💙
Jennifer called 911 and performed CPR for four to five minutes, but Lance was unresponsive. He was immediately taken to Baptist Medical Center Beaches, where doctors diagnosed him and transferred him to Baptist Health Jacksonville for additional heart care. He also had a heart catheterization and open-heart surgery the next day. All told, he spent about six days in the hospital, also suffering a broken nose from falling face-first onto the asphalt. 🚨 🏥
“I don't remember anything she did. I don't remember none of it,” Lance said. “But at the hospital, that's when everybody started telling me how she saved my life.”
Jennifer is modest by nature, and she gives credit to many people for saving Lance's life.
“Baptist, Dr. Pierce, his CT surgeon, all of them are vital,” Jennifer said. “You know, it is a team approach. Medic is a team. It's never one person. It is the team that helps us get to the end and the result that we need.”
Lance still has a long way to go, but he calls the heart attack a much-needed wake-up call. "I didn't live right, I didn't eat right," he says. "And that's all gonna change now."
As for Jennifer? She describes her ongoing philosophy the way so many of our health care heroes do:
"It's such an honor to be able to help people. It's just all I love to do.”
We wish Lance a speedy recovery and commend Jennifer on her heroic actions! Read more of the story on First Coast News! 💙
A chance meeting on Jacksonville Beach became a life-saving rescue after Lance Schellpepper collapsed while stopping to pet a dog.
