Grand Forks 'angels' save Manitoba mom after heart attack
Dale Oughton's family was sharing laughs and a meal when his mother collapsed, lost a pulse
A Manitoba family is thanking three strangers for saving their mother's life last weekend in Grand Forks.
Dale Oughton was in the North Dakota city with his sisters, niece and mother for some shopping when they stopped in at their favourite restaurant, The Toasted Frog, for a meal.
The family was sharing a laugh when Oughton's 71-year-old mother, Lorraine, began choking.
"My sisters and I were teasing each other, my mother was in her glory with her kids around her...The next thing I know my mom turned stiff as a board," Dale said.
Seconds later, her lifeless body was on the floor. Oughton's mother had suffered a massive heart attack.
One of his sisters screamed for someone to call 911, another asked if anyone around them knew CPR.
"Without hesitation there were three, I call them angels — they're heroes, came forward," Dale said.
The heroes were Nancy Friesen-Vokey, a nurse from St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, and two Americans, Cody Boyle and Shane Wasylow.
"They kept administering CPR until the paramedics got there, which seemed like forever but probably was only four minutes," said Dale.
"That's what saved her life."
When his mother was taken away in the ambulance, there was still no pulse.
"We actually thought we'd lost her," Dale said. "It was not until we got to the hospital that we were told they were able to get a heartbeat back."
Had it not been for the early CPR, Dale said there is no way his mother would be alive today.
The 71-year-old was cared for in an intensive care unit for five days and on Thursday was moved into a regular hospital room.
While she is awake, she is still extremely weak and is having trouble speaking after being intubated for so long.
But she is a warrior and determined to recover, he said.
Dale happens to work for the Heart and Stroke Foundation as director of development. He said it was hard to find the words to say how grateful he is to the strangers who saved his mom.
"You never think it's going to happen to you," he said. "I'm speechless to the feeling of terror that was in our heads at the time."
In the days after his mother was saved, Dale said he has had the chance to say thank you to all three of his mother's angels.
"What do you say to someone who saved your mom's life? …. It's been a very emotional week for all of us."
with files from Samantha Samson