Rep. Emanuel Cleaver finds woman in a ditch, aids her until paramedics arrive

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - U.S. Congressman and Kansas City icon Emanuel Cleaver found a woman in a ditch Friday morning.  He stayed by her side until paramedics arrived.

Cleaver said he was giving a tour of the Green Impact Zone when he saw a hand waving from a ditch near the intersection of 44th Street and Troost Avenue.  He and his staff members stopped and quickly ran to help.

"It was a woman who uttered two words then fell unconscious," Cleaver said.  "She said, 'help me, please.'"

Cleaver said the woman was foaming at the mouth and then went silent.

"I said to the 911 call taker, 'you guys have to hurry because I don't know if she's going to survive," Cleaver said.

Cleaver's staff member sat the lady up, and Cleaver took off his suit jacket and draped it on her shoulders.

"Then [I] got on the ground and leaned back against her, so that she wouldn't fall back down," Cleaver said.

Cleaver said it was his first trauma situation.  He said he's not hero and did what anyone who saw the lady would have done.

He said that sense of helping is something this country needs now more than ever.

"We've got to help each other.  We are a nation.  There should be a kinship," Cleaver said.  "We don't have to wait until people are involved in a tragedy to have a feeling for them.  I just think we can be better as a people."

Cleaver still does not know the lady's name and wishes he could find out how she's doing.  He said he hopes the lady survives and that his actions made a difference.

Details on how the lady ended up in the ditch are unknown.