Lucky to be alive
By all accounts, 54-year-old Brendon Donaldson is lucky to be alive.
After suffering a cardiac arrest during a game of volleyball on January 23, he owes his life to the swift actions of St John Ambulance volunteers Nola Aizlewood and Mim Jones, paramedic Edwin McLean, First Class Constable Leanne May and Constable Brad Moore.
“How do you thank someone for saving your life, words don’t seem sufficient,” Mr Donaldson said.
“I just can’t thank everyone involved enough…it’s a delight to still be here.”
Mr Donaldson lost all vital signs due to a total blockage of the main artery on the left side of his heart.
“I went down and a work colleague rolled me onto my side and got the attention of Nola and Mim who responded from another court … they started cardiopulmonary resuscitation, assisted by the police officers until the ambulance arrived,” he said.
A paramedic of almost 30 years, Mr McLean said “all the planets lined up for the lad”. “His heart had stopped, he was dead,” he said.
“We arrived within seven minutes, guard and shock him and immediately the signs of life begin to establish, the heart beat was irregular at first but fairly rapidly became a regular rhythm.”
After being conveyed to Albany Hospital, Mr Donaldson was flown to Royal Perth Hospital by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
After two days in an induced coma and two weeks of tests, Mr Donaldson was fitted with an internal defibrillator which regulates his heart’s electrical impulses.
“If it stops again, it gives me a shock to restart it,” he said.
He said he would encourage everyone to learn CPR “because you never know when a life or death situation might happen”.
