‘Like Brothers’: A UNCP Friendship That Proved Lifesaving

For Mario Scott and Kevin Cousineau, morning break is usually a time to laugh, share a snack and catch up with co-workers.

But one recent morning, Cousineau was sitting at the table in UNC Pembroke’s Facilities shop, eating watermelon, when he suddenly began choking. Within seconds, he was unconscious — and Scott was fighting to save the life of a man he considers a brother.

“I thought he was playing at first,” Scott said. “But then he turned red. Then he began falling forward. He wasn’t responsive.”

Cousineau remembers laughing with Scott. Then everything went black. Scott tried to catch him as he fell, but Cousineau struck the leg of the table before hitting the concrete floor.

“I was telling him, ‘You’ve got to pull through this. Stay with me’,” Scott said. “It scared me bad. Very bad.”

Scott first struck Cousineau on the back and then lifted him and performed the Heimlich maneuver — something he’d never done before.

“I didn’t hesitate,” Scott said. “You can’t call for anybody. It would be too late.”

After several seconds, the obstruction cleared.

When he regained consciousness, Cousineau was on the floor, bleeding from his forehead and nose. His glasses were nearby. Cousineau had suffered a head injury when he hit the table.

“I woke up and my face was bloody,” Cousineau said.

His first words to Scott were simple.

“You just saved my life.”

Cousineau spent the next nine hours at the hospital, where a CT scan showed no additional injuries.

Scott Boutselis, Facilities setup supervisor, said Scott’s response did not surprise him.

“Mario is always quick on his feet,” Boutselis said. “He reacts well to a lot of different situations. He didn’t hesitate in a time of need.”

What happened that morning lasted only moments. The friendship behind Scott’s instinctive response had been building for years.

Scott and Cousineau have worked together for four years. Somewhere along the way, the co-workers became close friends.

“We’ve always been close,” said Cousineau, known to many across campus as “Boston,” a nickname inspired by his hometown and strong Northern accent.

Scott puts it even more simply.

“We are like brothers.”

Cousineau and his wife, Dr. Shannon Cousineau, an assistant professor of Social Work at UNCP, moved to North Carolina from Boston in 2021. Shannon said her husband, who is generally quiet and reserved, does not easily form close friendships.

But he and Scott clicked.

Over the past year, when Scott experienced car trouble, Cousineau began picking him up for work each morning. He leaves home half an hour early to make the trip.

“They are a great pair,” Shannon said. “I love watching it. I love how they are with each other.”

Their friendship took on an even deeper meaning this summer after Scott’s mother died. Cousineau and Shannon were there for him. Weeks later, as Scott looked at his friend unconscious on the Facilities shop floor, that loss was still fresh.

“This happened shortly after I lost my mom,” Scott said. “Kevin and Shannon were there for me during that time. My family and I look at them like family. I couldn’t lose another family member.”

For Shannon, the thought of what could have happened to her husband did not fully sink in until later.

“It was scary,” she said. “I didn’t know if he had a concussion. He could have died if Mario hadn’t been there. I literally could have lost my husband. It could have gone very differently if Mario wasn’t there.”

Cousineau said the experience reinforced something he already knew about the people he works alongside.

“They are great people,” he said. “Great people. Everyone in the shop.”

Scott doesn’t dwell on being the person who saved his friend’s life and shies away from being called a hero. For him, what matters is much simpler.

“I’m just glad he is here,” he said.