Maine woman says CPR saved her young daughter's life

Maine woman says CPR saved her young daughter's life
For this month’s Heart Health 8 in partnership with the American Heart Association, WMTW sat down with a Maine woman who likely saved her daughter’s life through CPR.

“I think about it every day, I run through it,” Sandi Dwyer said. “When I go to sleep at night, I run through that whole morning."

It's been eight years since Sandi had to perform CPR on her daughter Whitney.

“She was a very active, normal 13-year-old,” she said “and all the sudden she dropped.”

It was a normal Monday morning. The Dwyer family was getting ready for work and school when her youngest daughter heard Whitney fall and couldn’t get her back up.

“It just felt like I had never woken up,” Whitney describes it, “it just felt like one long dream.”

“We got on the phone with 911 and I started CPR,” said Sandi.

Sandi performed CPR with help from dispatchers until rescue crews got there and rushed her to Maine Medical Center.

“We found out she had a very sick heart,” Sandi said, “we eventually found out it was from a virus, and she had suffered cardiac arrest.”

It’s a stark reminder that heart disease affects anyone at any age. She says it’s also a reminder that knowing CPR saves lives.

“95% will die from cardiac arrest,” she said. “For every minute CPR is not performed, it reduces to another 10, 7%. You think it might be a stranger that you’re going to help, but more likely, it’s in your circle.”

She is so grateful to have her daughter her today as Whitney is focused on helping the next person. She’s now in school to be a cardiovascular technician.

“I just really wanted to help everyone like me. Everyone seemed happy and it seemed like a great work environment,” Whitney said.