Off-duty health workers, Good Samaritan save man from cardiac arrest
The three performed CPR and used an AED defibrillator to keep the 62-year-old alive
Lisa Wass says she still doesn't know the identity of a Good Samaritan who helped save her father's life.
Her father, John Tomchuk, was loading groceries into his vehicle on Friday evening at Preston Crossing's Walmart in Saskatoon when he went into cardiac arrest.
"He fell. He doesn't remember anything other than thinking that something was wrong," Wass said.
Wass said her 62-year-old dad collapsed on the ground in front of the store, where two off-duty health workers and an unknown person found him. The off-duty workers began performing CPR while the person ran into Walmart to get an AED defibrillator.
"The third helper on the scene, who we haven't been able to identify, actually went back into Walmart looking for an AED machine and Walmart said they don't carry them," Wass explained.
According to Wass, the person ran to nearby store Cabela's and found an AED machine there.
"That's actually what saved his life. If it hadn't been for that machine, they would have lost them," Wass said, explaining what a paramedic on scene told her.
EMS arrived shortly after and continued to treat Tomchuk. He became conscious and alert before he was taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Wass said she is thankful for all of the quick-thinking people who stepped in to help her dad.
Wass said Tomchuk is currently in critical care in the hospital.
"My dad said again this morning, 'Wow, I would be dead if that store hadn't been carrying one," Wass said.