As Evelyn Johnson was leaving work today, she received the news she hoped wouldn't come: Mayor D. Michael Collins, whom she'd tried to save after he suffered cardiac arrest and crashed into a pole on Sunday, had died.

“It's terrible,” Mrs. Johnson said through tears. “It's just emotionally wrecking.”

Mayor Collins, who had spent the past five days in critical condition at the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio, was taken off life support today and died shortly after, city officials said.

Mrs. Johnson and Andra Crisp stopped to help a man, who they later learned was the mayor, after a sport-utility vehicle crashed into a pole at Hill Avenue and Parkside Boulevard in South Toledo on Sunday afternoon. The two broke out a window of the city-owned SUV and pulled the mayor from the car and performed chest compressions until Toledo fire paramedics arrived.

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Mr. Crisp could not be reached for comment today.

Since the crash, Mrs. Johnson, at the request of the Mayor's wife, Sandra Drabik, has visited the hospital. She intended to visit again today after work.

Yesterday, before she went to work at Rally's in West Toledo, where she is a cashier, Mrs. Johnson visited Mayor Collins and his family. Last night, the family “had hope,” she said.

“It's just kind of shocking to get off work and hear that he died,” she said. “Knowing that we were the first on scene makes it hard. We was hoping he would come through it, so it's tough.”

Mrs. Johnson said she's found comfort in knowing that her actions, and those of Mr. Crisp, possibly helped extend the mayor's life, giving his family time to come together and be with him before he died.

“I pray this doesn't discourage people from stopping and helping people,” Mrs. Johnson said. “You have to help your community. You don't know what the outcome is going to be, if it's good or bad, but they had a chance to say their goodbyes.”

First Published February 6, 2015, 8:42 p.m.