A Saskatoon resident showed her thanks to paramedics Tuesday after they had saved her life when she went into cardiac arrest.
“The careers these individuals have chosen may be called paramedics. However, I have a different name for Matt and Mitch. They’re my guardian angels,” said Nicole Craig.
Medavie Health Services West said they received a call on April 15 around 8:50 a.m. that a woman had gone into cardiac arrest.
Matt McGurk and Mitch Sparrow, two paramedics, were luckily close by when the call came in and were able to revive Craig.
“They worked very hard to revive me and took me into the hospital for emergency cardiac surgery,” Craig said.
She said there weren’t words that could express how thankful she is and wanted to acknowledge the impact they had on her life.
“Your bravery, your skill and your compassion are truly appreciated, and your occupation is one of the most selfless, and it’s truly inspiring.”
She said she doesn’t remember anything from that day, but luckily she was out with a colleague when she went into cardiac arrest.
Craig spoke about her recovery, saying sore ribs were a small setback for her.
She said this experience has made her appreciate life a little more, adding that she’s slowing down and being more present in the moment.
Troy Davies, spokesperson for Medavie Health Services West said events like Craig coming forward don’t happen often.
“Rarely do we have a patient coming to us two weeks later looking for the paramedics who were on the call,” Davies said.
He said this incident also showed the importance of CPR and defibrillation.
McGurk said the stars were aligned that day, saying it rarely happens that they were so close when the call came in.
“This is the first time in 20 years I’ve been able to meet somebody that we’ve had a successful outcome from,” McGurk said.
He said they usually hear about how patients are, after the fact, adding that it was great to see the impact they’ve had first hand.
Sparrow stressed how lucky they were to be so close when the call came in, stating the importance that minutes and seconds can have in a situation like that.
“I want to reiterate how special this really is for Matt and I to be able to meet you,” Sparrow said to Craig.