Port Moody, B.C. woman meets stranger who saved her life
'It was a miracle I was alive with no brain damage,' says Tanya Leibel after suffering heart attack
Tanya Leibel knew she was in trouble.
Standing atop the steps of a popular Coquitlam, B.C. trail, the 66-year-old felt a massive pressure on her chest that shot down her left arm.
She waved to her son-in-law, Chris, for help and sat on a rock. Then, she collapsed.
Two days later, Leibel awoke in the hospital, stunned to see her family by her bedside.
Leibel's doctor told her she had suffered a massive heart attack from a blockage in her coronary arteries.
"It was a miracle I was alive with no brain damage," she said.
There was a reason: the quick-thinking response of a nearby stranger who had performed CPR on her.
No one knew the mystery woman's name or how to reach her — until a couple of months ago.
'I'm a pretty optimistic person'
In mid-March, after nearly one year had passed, Leibel returned to the Coquitlam trail to put up a sign.
"Did you save my life with CPR here?" the sign read. "Please call me. Would love to thank you."
Spotted by one of our BCEHS employees on her weekly hike up the Coquitlam Crunch.<br><br>When someone is suffering from a cardiac arrest SECONDS count.<br><br>Learn hands-only CPR, download <a href="https://twitter.com/pulsepoint?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@pulsepoint</a> => Save a life!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cprsaveslives?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cprsaveslives</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ur6nWNfqVM">pic.twitter.com/Ur6nWNfqVM</a>
—@BC_EHSA week later, Leibel was in the middle of a trip in Poland, where she was touring a Second World War site.
She received a call in her hotel room. The woman on the other end said her mother-in-law had performed CPR last year on the Coquitlam trail.
The woman said her mother-in-law had spotted the sign Leibel placed on the Coquitlam trail and wanted to get in touch.
Quick thinking
Leibel learned her rescuer was Tammy Bryant, a 58-year-old school bus driver from Coquitlam.
Bryant had been walking the trail with her friend, Celia Newton, when they spotted Leibel, eight metres away, as she fell off a rock.
Two days prior, Bryant had done a CPR re-certification course as part of her job driving kids with special needs.
"We run over there and get to her," Bryant recalled. "She was sort of twitching and gasping for breath."
Bryant performed chest compressions on Leibel for 10 minutes as Leibel's son-in-law called 911.
At one point, Bryant stopped the compressions at the advice of the 911 operator.
"Her lips turned blue immediately," she said. Bryant resumed CPR. "I knew what I was doing was absolutely right."
Paramedics soon took over and used a defibrillator twice on Leibel.
Reunited a year later
In the days after, Bryant and her friend wondered whether Leibel had survived.
Bryant called various hospitals, plus the RCMP and paramedics, but no one could disclose the information.
Then, in March, she spotted the sign. Her daughter-in-law called the number and reached Leibel in Poland.
The two women met for the first time at a Tim Hortons at the base of the Coquitlam trail last month.
"We both started crying and hugging," Leibel said.
Leibel and Bryant have since stayed in touch and become good friends.
Bryant wants to remind people that taking a simple CPR course can save a life.
Leibel underwent a surgery to unblock her arteries and is healthier than ever.
She's grateful for Bryant's quick thinking and bravery.
"[Bryant] saved me and she saved my family so much grief," Leibel said.
"She's a hero to us."