After being woken up by his mother at 3 a.m., Jarren Cusson found his father unconscious on the floor. The 16-year-old from Martensville did not hesitate and immediately performed CPR while his mother called 911.
They would later learn that his father had suffered a cardiac arrest.
His father, Steven Cusson, was always a healthy man and never suspected he was at risk for cardiac arrest.
“I’m a 39-year-old guy, I work out four hours a day, I eat salads, chicken and rice. I think I am a healthy guy. It really surprised us all out of nowhere,” Cusson said.
Jarren is currently an air cadet in the Martensville Air Cadet program. He thinks his training helped him stay calm during the high-stress situation.
“I just knew I had to do something. I saw my dad there on the ground and I just figured that doing nothing is the worst thing I could do. So I tried CPR and luckily that was the correct decision.”
For showing enormous bravery and not hesitating a second to try and save his parent’s life, he was awarded the Chiefs Life Saving Award.
“Most people would freeze or run, but Jarren did not, and his own father on top of that. I know paramedics who could not do even that,” said Troy Davies from Medavie Health Services.
“Every minute that goes by means a 10 per cent smaller chance of survival when dealing with cardiac arrest. What Jarren did definitely helped save his father,” said Eric Harvey, a paramedic with Martensville Medavie West.
A month after the incident, Steven has made a full recovery.
“It’s a one-in-a-million recovery the doctors told me. I like to think it is because of Jarren,” the proud father said.
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