Port Moody, B.C., resident Vladimir Ruzic and his family love going on outings and having fun as a family.
But on May 10, 2024, that stability was shattered when they visited Hastings Park.
“I was feeling great … I thought to myself, life is beautiful,” Ruzic told Global News.
However, while at the park, Ruzic, who was 41 at the time, went into cardiac arrest. The episode required double bypass surgery followed by a long stay in the hospital.
But Ruzic was lucky someone else was there that day.
Errol Aguilera, who coaches young sprinters as a side hustle, was at the park and saved Ruzic’s life by giving him CPR until paramedics arrived.
Months later, Ruzic’s wife, Laura, tracked the 45-year-old down to thank him for his actions.
Exactly one year after his cardiac arrest, Ruzic and his family decided to mark the occasion by inviting Aguilera for dinner on Commercial Drive.
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But while they were waiting for their table, the unthinkable happened.
A man went into cardiac arrest outside the restaurant, and Aguilera jumped in again to help. Ruzic was also able to help, holding the man and reassuring him that help was on the way.
“What are the chances? I don’t know,” Ruzic said.
They don’t know the name of the man they saved, but paramedics assured them at the scene that he was breathing and was going to be OK, they said.
“We have this bond now and this whole understanding that, I don’t think most people experience that in this life, ever,” Ruzic said.
This experience inspired Ruzic to start a YouTube channel.
The two men say it was an unbelievable chance encounter that brought them together and a reminder that when life is in the fast lane, it’s good to slow down and savour the connections.
November is CPR month, and according to the Canadian Red Cross, giving bystander CPR almost doubles the chances of survival in cardiac arrest episodes that occur outside of the hospital.
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