Back Creve Coeur resident Eugene Rubin swears that eating doughnuts can save a life. Doughnuts, at least, played a part in saving his life last April. Rubin, 75, who lost his wife to cancer last year, makes a weekly trek to LaMar's Doughnuts in Olivette, usually on Sunday. One day in April, when he heard the weather wasn't going to be ideal for driving on Sunday, he decided to go on Saturday. Rubin didn't have a history of heart problems, and he wasn't showing any symptoms until he felt dizzy at the counter. He took a seat in a booth to rest and then passed out. Luckily, Ladue High School track coach Keith Harder and an unidentified woman noticed Rubin slumped over. When Harder and the woman realized Rubin was having a heart attack, they administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until the paramedics arrived. "They had to shock him there, at LaMar's twice, and two more times on the way to St. John's Mercy Medical Center," said Nancy Dubman, Rubin's daughter, who lives in Maryland Heights. "Between Keith Harder and the unidentified woman's involvement, he wouldn't be here," she said. Rubin spent some time in the hospital afterward. Tests showed he had an irregular heart rhythm and a defibrillator was implanted into his chest. He survived because of two good Samaritans, but only one could be tracked down. They have since met face-to-face a few times. "I was anxious to meet the person who saved my dad's life, and it was an emotional thing when it happened," Dubman said of their first meeting at Ladue High School. "He turned out to be a very, very nice young man," Rubin said. Rubin said if he had been at home when he had his heart attack, his fate would have been different. "They would have found me dead," he said. "I was lucky I was at the doughnut shop, and lucky there was somebody there who knew what to do."

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