Cardiac Arrest Survivor, Mary Gordon, and her fiancé, in a photo she provided.
In December of 2019, Mary Gordon was a 37 year old and was very active, worked out regularly and participated in 5K running competitions. Shortly after the Christmas holiday, she felt weak and not like her usual self. She attributed this to lack of sleep during the festive period, but she decided to visit her doctor for a check up. She was examined and there was no abnormality apart from a heart murmur that she had since childhood. As she left the doctor’s clinic, she collapsed and was found to be in Cardiac Arrest. The doctor and the physician assistant performed CPR for 6 minutes and used an automated external defibrillator to shock her heart rhythm back to normal. She was admitted to hospital and received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator and is now doing well. She is now an advocate to have the public learn CPR to save lives.
Ms. Gordon’s story shows that cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any age. We should all learn how to perform CPR and save lives. You can watch my video Cardiac Arrest to learn about CPR and then I encourage you to get certification on how to perform it from your local medical organizations.