Thanks to bystander CPR, a call to 911 and a nearby AED my life was saved.

October 3rd of 2013 began like any other day. I woke up, got ready and went to work. Little did anyone know what was about to happen. While working on a vehicle I began to feel a little off. It was close to lunch time so I put down my tools, washed my hands and sat at my tool box to eat lunch, just like I do almost every day. The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital in a total state of confusion with doctors, nurses, family and friends surrounding me. All in disbelief (myself included) and all so happy to see me awake.

https://youtu.be/AQZRfewHvLo

I was told that I went into sudden cardiac arrest at work, I fell on the floor and was displaying the usual signs of convulsions, agonal breathing and unresponsiveness. A coworker heard the commotion and ran to me, recognized the signs and began immediate bystander CPR while another coworker called 911. I was given bystander CPR for approximately 5 minutes until the local police and EMT’s showed up and took over. I was then given a single shock from an AED and my pulse came back and returned to a normal rhythm. I was dead for 7 minutes! From that point, I was rushed to the hospital and put into therapeutic hypothermia. A controlled coma technique used to save brain function after being without oxygen rich blood for a long period of time.

Thanks to bystander CPR, a call to 911 and a nearby AED my life was saved. The therapeutic hypothermia saved my brain function as well and I have made a full recovery.