'Thank you for my blessed life.' Heart attack survivor searching for last person who helped save her life

'Thank you for my blessed life.' Heart attack survivor searching for last person who helped save her life

Kimber Perfect, who is hold a thank you letter from her grandson has thanked all but one person who helped save her life from a massive heart attack on June 8, 2017.  She is still searching for that good Samaritan. From right to left Columbus Fire Fighter Elliott Heigel, Perfect, Fire Fighter Caleb Baker, Captain Kent Miller, James Miller, Columbus Division of Fire.

Where were you four years ago today at 9:53 a.m. when, without warning, I suffered sudden cardiac arrest and fell backwards on the sidewalk at Gay Street and Pearl Alley? If you are the bystander who administered CPR on me, I am looking for you so I can properly thank you for helping to save my life.

I have thanked the man who immediately called 911, while several others, and I believe you must have been one of them, gathered around me to help.

Related story: Coaching callers through CPR is part of daily routine for emergency dispatchers

Columbus Fire Lt. Matt Snyder answered the call and immediately dispatched Columbus Fire Engine 1, EMS 13 and EMS 10 to the scene. But when the caller informed him that my face was turning purple, Snyder said emphatically that someone needed to start compressions "Now!" You answered that call to action.

Snyder coached you through providing lifesaving chest compressions on me until medics arrived and took over. You knew I was in good care and walked away. The chest compressions you provided were critically important in those first minutes after my cardiac arrest, pumping blood to my heart and brain until medics arrived. There typically is irreversible damage to the brain after blood flow has stopped for just a few minutes.

When the medics arrived, I had no pulse. I was not breathing. I had been unconscious and unresponsive for 10 minutes. A portable AED device was used, which got my heart going again, and many other life-saving medical procedures were conducted. The medics rushed me to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center where I, once again, suffered cardiac arrest.

Again I was revived, this time by emergency medical personnel at Grant, also with an AED, but no one believed I was out of the woods yet. In fact, as my family arrived at Grant, they were greeted by the hospital chaplain.

Each year, there are more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the U.S. I am among the roughly 10% who survive. Bystander CPR can double or triple the chance of survival.

There is no question in my mind that I am alive today because of bystanders like you and others in my chain of survival.

I have thanked the man who called 911 and put his phone on speaker so you could hear Snyder as he coached you through those life-saving chest compressions.

All the well-prepared firefighters and medics who arrived on the scene and provided advanced life support within minutes of my cardiac event, I have personally thanked.

Their quick action on the scene, I believe, made a huge difference enabling me to reach the hospital where I once again needed to be revived. A few short weeks later, these firefighters and I were breaking bread together at Engine House 1 where we shared a meal and took photos.

But I have not yet thanked you.

I am here today because of the excellent medical care I received at Grant Medical Center. I have been able to thank the cardiologist on call that morning, whom I know saved my life. After my release from the hospital, I took cookies to the nurses’ station at Grant to say thank you.

But I have not yet thanked you.

I have thanked the surgeon who inserted the medical device that keeps me alive today.

But I have not yet thanked you.

I have thanked Columbus police officer Fletcher Farr who was on the scene with you and called my work colleagues, who sprang into action and notified my family. By happenstance, I met Farr not long after my incident.

But I have not yet thanked you.

I even got to personally thank fire Capt. Kent Miller for breaking my rib with his life-saving compressions as I lay motionless on the sidewalk.

You all brought me back to life. I would not be here today without any of you. It’s called the chain of survival for a reason, and you are a critical link in my chain.

All of you are why I lived to celebrate my granddaughter’s high school graduation, the annual birthdays of my five beloved grandchildren, Mother’s Day last month, and now my retirement.

I just wish there were more of us who survive because I am living proof that sudden cardiac arrest does not have to take your life.

After I returned home from the hospital, I took a CPR course so should I find myself in a situation as you did, I can pay it forward and help save someone else’s life. You stepped in without question. I probably have a brain today because of what you did, keeping oxygen to my brain until the medics arrived. I would really like to thank you for my brain. If you see this, please contact The Dispatch at newsroom@dispatch.com to be connected to me so I can say thank you.

Thank you for my blessed life.

Kimber Perfect retired earlier this year after serving as deputy chief of staff for communications for the office of Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther.