Crossing the Strait of Georgia – Mike’s journey
This week’s Gabriola Sounder includes this article: Near-death sparks campaign to install defibrillator at Community Hall. It begins:
Mike Richards owes his life to his fellow karate club members. If it weren’t for their swift response, Mike said he would have likely not survived the heart attack he suffered during a Gabriola Kyokushin Karate Club practice in January. Club members administered CPR for about 10 minutes until first responders arrived with an automated external defibrillator. [continue]
Mike posted an intersting and thoughtful account of his heart attack on the Georgia Strait Alliance blog a few months ago: Crossing The Strait of Georgia – A Very Personal Journey. Mike wrote:
Just over 2 months ago I suffered a very severe cardiac arrest while teaching a Karate class on Gabriola Island on the west side of Georgia Strait. It was pretty instantaneous as I felt strange for just a few seconds before I collapsed and I was essentially dead before I hit the floor. There was no way of knowing this could happen to me and in fact I’d had check-ups fairly recently and in retrospect the medical folk can’t pinpoint any definitive factors that would have contributed to it happening.
Thankfully, our local vet, who also trains the volunteer firefighters in CPR, was right beside me when I dropped and his quick assessment and action, and along with my wife/ fellow instructor, kept my blood and oxygen flowing until help arrived. The rest of the class was amazing too. After 10 minutes of very aggressive CPR I was zapped back to life when the first responders arrived. One of the island doctors was also there within minutes. [continue]
Filed in Gabriola Island,Gabriola people 2 Comments so far
2 Responses to “Crossing the Strait of Georgia – Mike’s journey”
cheryl on 04 Jul 2012 at 6:57 am #
Dear Gabriolan thank-you for posting this. Hubby and I are one of Mikes neighbors and have been for the past 5 or 6 years now. We’ve watched Mike and EJ’s son grow up and enjoyed their company on many occasions. As my hubby pointed out after reading the article that Mike is a great guy, very humble and dedicated to his family and work. We love him and his little family and are great full to have them as our neighbors and as friends. “Hang in there Mike we are all behind you and wish nothing but good health and happiness.”
Gabriolan on 08 Jul 2012 at 12:55 pm #
Cheryl – Mike sounds like a great guy, and I’m glad he’s still with us.