Man's quick thinking and CPR training help him save the love of his life during an emergency
It's common for people to receive training in techniques such as CPR and first-aid, but no one really hopes that they'd need to use it. But sometimes having knowledge about these simple procedures could help people save lives in an emergency. A living proof of this is Marian Sharrock who breathes today because of her husband's timely intervention, as reported by ABC.net. Glen Sharrock remembers the moment when he was about to lose the love of his life very vividly, which is when he turned to his CPR training that helped them through the situation. Following the incident, he will always remain grateful for the training sessions he spent learning the technique.
The couple had just finished dinner when Marian in her husband's words "slumped down" on the lounge chair. Glen could feel something was wrong because his wife usually never went to sleep that quickly. After noticing her for a while, it hit Glen that his wife may have gone into cardiac arrest. He said, "It was very frightening to see someone dying in front of your eyes … [I thought] if I don't do something, I'm going to lose her". Despite the chaos, he managed to jump into action and checked his wife's breathing and pulse.
He immediately told his son to contact the ambulance and got his wife off the lounge chair before performing CPR on her as he was trained to do. His son Ben was in constant contact with the triple-0 operator, who was instructing them on everything regarding CPR and further steps. Paramedics arrived at the scene after 15 minutes, during which Sharrock repeatedly performed CPR on his wife after which Marian was switched to a defibrillator. The couple is now urging everyone to learn CPR and First Aid techniques to save lives. Sharrock knew about CPR mainly because of the sessions he had to undertake in his workplace every 6 months.
A year after the incident, the couple decided to pay a visit to the paramedics and the triple-0 operator who helped save Marian's life. Sharrock shared that even though he knew everything regarding CPR because of his training, the guidance given by the operator helped a lot. Kim Hammond, who was the operator guiding Sharrock, said "It's just the little things that some people forget but Glen had it all sorted … he already had her on the ground flat on her back and it alleviates a lot of steps". She further suggested that people start CPR immediately in such situations even if they don't know the method, and they must start compressions as something is infinite times better than nothing. Today, Marian has made a full recovery and lives with a pacemaker and defibrillator in her heart.
Marian is thankful to her husband and owes him her life. She says, "I wouldn't be here without this man [Glen] … every time I look at this man, it's just love". The couple are now headed towards the beach to commemorate the first anniversary of this life-changing incident.