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Young woman almost dies on a rowing machine

Defib For Life are happy to read of yet another save thanks to the quick thinking actions of a gym owner and the use of an Automatic External Defibrillator.

A young and fit 21-year-old Sunshine Coast woman is lucky to be alive after going into Sudden Cardiac Arrest after a seizure whilst using the rowing machine at her local gym.

A fellow gym member started CPR, whilst the gyms owner Mr Aaron Petterson rushed to get the gyms defibrillator.

“You learn how to use those things in your first aid course, but you never really use it,” he said.

He said even though he was in shock, the defibrillator was so simple to use that he knew exactly what to do.

“I pressed the shock button and her body sort of jumped off the ground like it was in the movies,” he said.

With the defibrillator and CPR, they were able to get Emily’s heart going again before paramedics arrived.

“Thank God. That thing is just absolutely brilliant and was able to save her life in the end,” Mr Petterson said.

Mr Petterson said the entire ICU team were commenting on how well the CPR process was done, the speed of 000 call, removal of obstacles, compression, stability of the head and correct use of the defibrillator.

The gym was required to have a defibrillator under its terms and conditions and now this lucky young lady wants to see defibrillators in every single gym.

“If I had of had it [at my old gym] then I probably wouldn’t be alive,” she said.

“It saved my life and it will definitely save someone else’s.”

Mr Petterson was extremely thankful he had one handy and wanted them to be placed not just in gyms, but in all businesses.

“We really need to start getting these out everywhere, because they’re even quite affordable these days,” he said.

“It’s literally life and death.”

 

 

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February 19, 2019 /  
3 Steps

Share your story with us

Sue was recently contacted by one of our supporters who, after reading our recent stories on the lives that were saved with the use of an AED, wanted to share one of her own.

“Whilst watching my son (24yrs) play outdoor soccer last year on a Sunday, an opposition team member (approx 50 years old) collapsed during the play. Several on-lookers, including myself, went to his aid. He had suffered a cardiac arrest. Luckily, the soccer ground was located inside a private college in Mt Eliza and they had several AED machines on-site. 000 operators where able to direct us to locate a machine, which we used twice. When the MICA unit arrived on scene, the gentleman was conscious. I met with the player, 6 weeks later, after he had undergone a triple by-pass.

One of the by-standers, a female soccer player, who performing CPR was a paramedic. In the weeks after this event, she held an informal CPR & Defib info session for the team members, which turned out to be very useful.

Later in the year, my son was playing soccer, this time in Dandenong, for a different team. Again, a team member collapsed (22 years old) suffered a cardiac arrest and required an AED to be administered. Thankfully the sporting facility had a defibrillator available and the young man was successfully resuscitated, before ambulance officers arrived on scene.

Witnessing two events in one year for my son, is quite amazing and thankfully because AED’s where available, the outcome on both days was positive.”

If you have a story to share let us know and we will help spread the word of how Automatic External Defibrillators (AED’s) save lives!

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February 12, 2019 /