Woman Lifts Car, Saves Dad: Lauren Kornacki Performs CPR On Father Alec After BMW Slips From Jack

Lauren Kornacki, a 22-year-old recent graduate of Mary Washington University, looked on in horror as her dad, 52-year-old Alec Kornacki, was pinned by the BMW 525i before she sprang into action Saturday. The car was in their garage on a jack when it gave way while Alec Kornacki was working on the vehicle.

"He wasn't breathing. His heart was stopped," Lauren told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "His arm was pinned to his chest by the car."

Lauren saved her father by tipping the BMW and pulling her father out from under it.

"I opened up his airway to make sure he could breathe and everything and at that point I'm just telling him, talking to him," she said. "You can't leave me. Just stay with me. Keep breathing."

The CPR techniques she learned as a lifeguard proved life-saving as she worked on her father.

"I can't begin to say how important that training is; that's one of the reasons I want people to know what happened. It saved my dad's life. Losing him for me was not an option, and I just wasn't going to allow it," she told the Times-Dispatch.

Alec Kornacki has no recollection of the incident but was told of Lauren's life-saving effort by his wife Liz.

"I told him what happened," Liz Kornacki told NBC 12. "He just, the tears just come to his eyes.  He said thank you for saving my life and she just smiled her blue eyed smile and that was it."

"She got his heart beating again and got him breathing again," Liz Kornacki continued. "So, she's it. He gave her life and then he gave her life. I am in awe of her. I am in awe of her. She is the day. She saved the day. I can't even tell you how proud I am of her." 

Alec Kornacki is being treated in the intensive care unit of Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, CNN reported. 

"He is walking and talking and laughing and joking. He's feeling pretty good," said Lauren's sister, Kristen Kornacki. "He's Superman, that's for sure."

"We think he'll be out of the ICU in the next few days, and we want to get him home as soon as we can," Lauren told the Times-Dispatch.