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发帖数: 8550 | 1 Victor Giesbrecht, 61, of Winnipeg, Canada, stopped his pickup along an
interstate highway in western Wisconsin to help two stranded women change a
flat tire. Minutes later, his life was in their hands.
Sara Berg, of Eau Claire, Wis., and her cousin, Lisa Meier, were headed home
Saturday night on Interstate 94 when they "heard an awful noise." They were
somewhere between Menomonie and Eau Claire when they pulled to the side of
the road to find a flat tire -- something neither knew how to fix. Meier’s
husband was on his way to help when Giesbrecht, who was driving by with his
wife, Ann, showed up and asked whether they needed help.
"We were so grateful," Berg said. "Nowadays, nobody ever really stops to
offer their help. It’s kind of scary sometimes, because you really don’t
know what you’re getting into."
Giesbrecht is the type who always wants to stop to help a stranded motorist,
his wife said. "He’s the type of person who gives you 100 percent and
worries about himself later," she said.
When Giesbrecht finished, Berg thanked him and they shook hands. Berg
recalled Giesbrecht’s farewell words to her: "Someone up above put me in
the right place at the right time.’
And then they parted. Giesbrecht and his wife pulled back onto the
interstate. Seconds later, Berg followed.
Less than a quarter mile down the road, Berg noticed Giesbrecht’s red truck
pulled over. She passed and then pulled over, figuring the couple may have
forgotten something.
No sooner had she gotten out of her car when she saw Giesbrecht’s wife
waving frantically at passing motorists.
When she saw Berg, she called out: "I think he’s having a heart attack."
Berg, a certified nursing assistant trained in CPR, jumped into the truck.
Giesbrecht had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. Berg began chest compressions
. Meier called 911.
Emergency personnel arrived in about five minutes, "but it always feels like
forever at a time like that," Berg said.
Wisconsin state trooper Kate Sampson arrived first, and gave mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation while Berg continued the chest compressions. When two Dunn
County sheriff’s deputies arrived, they helped move Giesbrecht out of the
truck and to the shoulder, using the vehicle as a buffer from passing
traffic. Sampson, Meier’s husband, who had just arrived, and another deputy
resumed CPR and the other deputy used an automated external defibrillator
to deliver shocks to Giesbrecht’s heart.
More than 400,000 people die in the United States each year from cardiac
arrest, said Dr. Regis Fernandes, a cardiologist with Mayo Clinic Health
System in Eau Claire. The survival rate for someone who suffers a cardiac
arrest out of the hospital ranges from only 1 percentto 6 percent, he said.
"Not performing CPR contributes to poor outcomes," he said.
And Giesbrecht, who had stopped to do a good deed along a stretch of
interstate, was one of the lucky ones.
"It was a nice twist of fate," said Fernandes, who is treating Giesbrecht at
the Eau Claire hospital. "We know for sure that the CPR the woman did
increase his chances for survival."
Berg pointed out that it was a team effort by several people.
The last few days have been a bit emotional for her and her cousin.
"We both have felt kind of guilty that having helped us caused his health
issue," Berg said. "But people keep telling us that maybe it put us in the
right place at the right time when he was going to need help."
Ann Giesbrecht, who was also part of her husband’s good luck when she
guided the vehicle to the shoulder after his heart attack, is grateful.
According to a statement issued by Mayo Clinic Health System, she said she
talked to Berg on Sunday and told her, "You actually saved his life." |
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