WATCH ABOVE: Emotions ran high in Miramichi when a man thanked others for saving his life. Global’s Brion Robinson reports.
MIRAMICHI, N.B.-A Miramichi man who credits quick work from friends and the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) for saving his life says there should be more of the defibrillators available to the public.
Eugene Manuel was participating in a fitness competition when his heart stopped beating.
“I never made it to sit down,” he said. “I just collapsed to my knees and that’s the last thing I remember there.”
His friends and competitors rushed to help and start cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
One person ran to a nearby Tim Horton’s to get and automated external defibrillator that had been installed there.
The defibrillator is a lightweight portable device that delivers an electric shock through the chest and to the heart.
“It was put there in the memory of my friend’s dad and I hope a lot more are going to get these machines,” he said.
Mathieu Hache is a clinical quality coordinator with Ambulance NB. He says the device saves lives.
“A.E.D.s is what saves lives,” he said. “C.P.R. will keep the brain alive until one can be used because C.P.R. alone will not changed the heart rhythm the victim is in.”
The device was placed at the restaurant after Cailin O’Kane’s father died of a massive heart attack in 2009.
She also says there should be more of the devices around.
“I think every business, every school and everything should have one for sure,” she said.
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