{"id":824,"date":"2026-08-08T15:22:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/08\/08\/teen-went-to-work-early-because-he-couldnt-sleep-and-ended-up-saving-a-76-year-old-womans-life\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:22:29","slug":"teen-went-to-work-early-because-he-couldnt-sleep-and-ended-up-saving-a-76-year-old-womans-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/08\/08\/teen-went-to-work-early-because-he-couldnt-sleep-and-ended-up-saving-a-76-year-old-womans-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen Went to Work Early Because He Couldn\u2019t Sleep and Ended Up Saving a 76-Year-Old Woman\u2019s Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Johnson Thompson, 17, opens up to PEOPLE about helping Fannie Garner, who later learned she had suffered a brain bleed<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/kVT8_pbx9ZpZZRUDjC8KNVjuAkU=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/Alabama-teen-saves-elderly-woman-1-072826-01e4d54ab76e452990c0b8344091c19c.jpg\" alt=\"(L-R) Johnson Thompson and Fannie GarnerCredit: Courtesy of the Garner Family\" title=\"Alabama teen saves life of elderly woman with brain bleed\" \/><figcaption><i>(L-R) Johnson Thompson and Fannie Garner<br \/>Credit: Courtesy of the Garner Family<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Johnson Thompson, 17, arrived to work at his parents\u2019 workshop about 4:30 a.m. on June 30 because he had difficulty sleeping<\/li>\n<li>Arriving early put him in the right place to help Frannie Garner, who showed up across the street disoriented and in pain, later learning from doctors that she had suffered a brain bleed<\/li>\n<li>\u201cHe\u2019s a guardian angel for sure,\u201d Garner tells PEOPLE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>About a week after a lawnmower accident, which landed him in the hospital with a concussion, an Alabama teen found himself unable to sleep through the night. So around 4:30 a.m. on June 30, he decided to just head into his parents\u2019 workshop to start his day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI figured I might as well start working rather than laying in bed, not sleeping,\u201d Johnson Thompson, 17, of Tuscumbia, tells PEOPLE.<\/p>\n<p>As it turned out, arriving early put him in the right place to help <a class=\"null\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/alabama-teen-17-helps-save-76-year-old-woman-with-brain-bleed-12023364\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"null\">Fannie Garner<\/a>, a 76-year-old woman who showed up across the street disoriented and in pain.<\/p>\n<p>After seeking medical attention, she learned she had suffered a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.templehealth.org\/about\/blog\/understanding-brain-bleeds-seek-help\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">brain bleed<\/a>, which could have been fatal had it not been caught in time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a guardian angel for sure,\u201d says Garner, a resident of Cherokee.<\/p>\n<p>To this day, Garner doesn\u2019t remember getting in the car that morning, or even leaving the house.<\/p>\n<p>The last thing she remembered? Having a bad headache.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson says that he knew right away that something was wrong when he saw Garner pull up to a local business, which was of course still closed, then start tugging on the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked her if I could help her with anything since it was so early,\u201d he recalls. \u201cShe told me that she had a terrible headache and she was kind of disoriented. She didn\u2019t really know where she was or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then he says she asked him where the nearest emergency room was \u201cbecause she was going to walk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was two or three miles down the road, so she wouldn\u2019t have made it that far,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Even though Garner insisted she could in fact make it on her own, Johnson called 911, then brought her a chair so she could sit while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.<\/p>\n<p>About five minutes later, EMS arrived to pick her up \u2014 and then it was back to work for Johnson.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/ifGpQ9ITVu3dBcO5RIuclWvSpYQ=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/Alabama-teen-saves-elderly-woman-3-072826-b98167ba8c3d4fd894fb5e230fb2e3af.jpg\" alt=\"Johnson ThompsonCredit: Courtesy of the Garner Family\" title=\"Alabama teen saves life of elderly woman with brain bleed\" \/><figcaption><i>Johnson Thompson<br \/>Credit: Courtesy of the Garner Family<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the hospital, Garner was told by doctors she had a small brain bleed that should clear up in a few days.<\/p>\n<p>Wanting to thank the young man who helped her, Garner\u2019s sister decided to track Johnson down, eventually getting his number and showing up to his place of work.<\/p>\n<p>Although he initially had no idea what was going on when she showed up asking for him, it all became clear when she \u201ctold me how grateful she was,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson says his parents didn\u2019t initially believe him when he later told them what happened. \u201cNormally I\u2019m really shy and I don\u2019t really call as much attention at all,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I guess they were surprised that I went out there and talked to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Days later, Johnson and his family met Garner at the local courthouse where her family presented the teen hero a lifesaving award.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was so sweet,\u201d Garner says, noting that the teen started off by introducing himself, knowing that even though she knew who he was, she didn\u2019t actually remember meeting him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019m Johnson Thompson.\u2019 And he gave me a hug and everything,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/RhKbpBi19RiQ41XWISjXo7jkegI=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/Alabama-teen-saves-elderly-woman-2-072826-366ba8068084446e814884adcea26cd7.jpg\" alt=\"Johnson Thompson and Fannie GarnerCredit: Courtesy of the Garner Family\" title=\"Alabama teen saves life of elderly woman with brain bleed\" \/><figcaption><i>Johnson Thompson and Fannie Garner<br \/>Credit: Courtesy of the Garner Family<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>News of Johnson\u2019s quickly deed spread in their small town. \u201cOnce it got out on the news, there were thousands of comments on Facebook and people messaging me,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he considers himself a hero, Johnson, who will be entering his senior year at high school this fall, shrugs it off and says he just hopes his story \u201cmight inspire other young teens to make the same decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\">PEOPLE\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, what came out of that fateful June 30 encounter is a special bond.<\/p>\n<p>Garner\u2019s family has been invited to join Johnson\u2019s at their lake house and he hopes that they\u2019ll also be able to attend his graduation in May.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s crazy how it could have turned out if God wouldn\u2019t have placed me there that morning. So I don\u2019t think it was a coincidence at all. I think the Lord, he protected me during that lawnmower incident, so he used me to help Miss Garner,\u201d Johnson says.<\/p>\n<p>Adds Johnson, \u201cI can\u2019t thank him enough.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Johnson Thompson, 17, opens up to PEOPLE about helping Fannie Garner, who later learned she had suffered a brain bleed (L-R) Johnson Thompson and Fannie GarnerCredit: Courtesy of the Garner Family NEED TO KNOW Johnson Thompson, 17, arrived to work at his parents\u2019 workshop about 4:30 a.m. on June 30 because he had difficulty sleeping [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}