Tax Worker Saves Kentucky Man's Life

Few people welcome phone calls from government bean-counters, but for one 60-year-old Kentucky man, that call turned out to be a lifesaver. Department of Revenue employee Natalie Brown, who had called Earl Phillips with a question about his income tax bill, verified his address and called 911 after noticing that he was breathing heavily and sounded ill, the AP reports. Turns out he was having a heart attack; doctors found a 90% blockage in one of his arteries.

Phillips, who had no history of heart trouble, says he started feeling ill during the call but didn't want to tell a total stranger that he needed help. "I'm very proud of that lady," Phillips told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "She saved my life." Brown—whose boss can't recall another instance of a tax worker saving somebody's life—says she believes state employees are there to help the public anyway they can. (More Kentucky stories.)