'They are heroes': Pair honored for performing lifesaving CPR at Fall River YMCA
Thomas Hargis and Lyndsey Kieta saw a fellow human being in great distress and knew they had to help. They struggle to explain how they remained so calm in doing so.

Hargis, 20, a lifeguard at the Fall River YMCA, and Kieta, 38, a Y member, both performed CPR on member Paul Chasse on the afternoon of July 11 after the 53-year-old man suffered a severe cardiac episode, eventually going into cardiac arrest, in the second-floor fitness room at the Y.

Chasse, a Fall River resident, was hospitalized and had a defibrillator implanted. He was released from Charlton Memorial Hospital this past Sunday and is “doing well,” according to his daughter, Cassandra McElroy.

McElroy said Hargis and Kieta “are amazing. Myself and family are truly grateful that they were not only there but they stepped in and saved a man's life that they didn't know. They are heroes.”

Pair recognized with Lifesaver Award and mayoral citation

Hargis and Kieta were recognized for their heroism on Monday morning at the YMCA on North Main Street. In a ceremony presided over by Mayor Paul Coogan, himself a Y member, Hargis and Kieta received a mayoral citation and were given the Lifesaver Award from Fall River EMS.

Kieta was the first first-responder, so to speak, on July 11.

How the YMCA rescue unfolded

In the Y's third-floor cardio deck, Kieta was informed by her son Eli, 12, that a man in the wellness room one level lower was in great distress. The cardio deck has a view of the wellness room. Kieta said she looked down and saw Chasse unresponsive and turning a dark color. She ran down to the lower level and started CPR.

“I don't know if it was a little bit of knowledge, very little,” Kieta said. “More courage. More confidence, and the ability to stay calm. I did compressions, mouth-to-mouth. I really am not trained, and this has really inspired me to get properly trained.”

A Fall River EMT who responded to last Thursday's situation at the Y and was also recognized on Monday, Mario DoRego explained the importance of chest compressions for someone in cardiac arrest. The compressions, he said, force oxygenated blood throughout the body, most importantly to the brain, when the heart has stopped doing so. It buys very valuable time, in terms of life and death and brain damage.

On duty at the pool, Hargis heard the emergency announcement, quickly evacuated the pool (it was free swim time), grabbed the heavy first-aid backpack, and ran up three flights of stairs, taking two stairs at a time, to get to Chasse.

At that point, the Fall River resident and former Durfee High School swimmer said he relied on the first-aid CPR training which was part of his lifeguard certification. He ran through the protocol checklist: Had 911 been called (yes). Person unconscious (yes). Check for pulse (none). Check for breathing (none).

Taught that seconds can make the difference between life and death, and brain damage, Hargis told fellow staff members to get the AED machine in the backpack ready for use while he began CPR.

He said he performed three sets of 30 chest compressions, and two sets of two breaths, before deferring to Fall River paramedic Lt. Charles Oldham, who arrived from Central Station on Bedford Street. Soon after, DoRego and paramedic Keri Hickey arrived on the scene from the Candeias Station on Plymouth Avenue.

Oldham said he needed just one shock from the AED to restore Chasse's heartbeat.

'You never know what you can do until you do it'

A former Bristol Community College student headed into his first year at UMass Dartmouth, Hargis shared how his brain reacted to the intense situation.

“As I got to the gym area, everything slowed down,” the former Boy Scout said. “It was the weirdest thing ever. I kept calm and collected until afterward.

“Then my hands were shaking. I got super pale. It happened near the end of my shift. I didn't go back to the pool. And they gave me the next day off.”

In hindsight, Hargis said he's surprised at his performance on the 11th. “You never know what you can do until you do it,” he said.

Hargis added that he feels bad about the attention he's receiving for the rescue when EMTs, nurses and doctors do it routinely.

Kieta, too, struggles to explain her ability to stay so calm during the July 11 incident.

“It just happened," she said. "I spend a lot of time questioning that. When you're outside of yourself, you're not doing it for you. You're just doing what feels right.”