It was a moment when Larisa Arthur had to perform CPR. She jumped out of her vehicle to assist a man she was lying lifeless in a ditch outside of Calgary. From her training as a nurse, she performed chest compressions and CPR on the stranger.
While driving back from a hike with her friend, outside of Calgary, she spotted the man passed out in a ditch with a bike nearby. He was wearing a bright yellow spandex. She assumed that he was struck by a car. She checked his pulse and breathing, but there was none.
No signs of life
She quickly got to work and in just 2 minutes, another nurse along with a first responder were on the scene. After 15 minutes, the EMS arrived on the scene and shocked the man twice, attempt to revive him.
Without any signs of life, the man was transported to a healthcare facility. According to Arthur, she did not think that the man was going to make it.
Out of the blue, she reconnected with the man via a social media message. When both saw each other, they started to cry. She felt weird to see him since the last time he was lifeless with ants crawling all over him.
Connection
According to Mike Estepa, what occurred was not clear. The last thing he recalls was texting his family that he will be home from his 60-kilometer bike trip in 30 minutes. But the next thing he recalls was waking up 2 days later. His wife informed him he went into cardiac arrest. He was baffled since he was very active.
Arthur was out on a hike in honor of her father. For her, it meant a lot to save someone in need. According to Arthur, it meant much since she could not save her father’s life but it was the first time, she felt that she helped save one’s life.
She was lucky that the people she was with also had medical training while attending Estepa. She also claimed that this is the first in her years of nursing work she performed CPR.
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LEARN MORE
Learn how to help by enrolling in a CPR course and for more information, check out these sources:
https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/cardiopulmonary-resuscitation-cpr-treatment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation
https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-cpr/basics/art-20056600