A San Diego man’s brush with death served as a reminder for the importance of CPR training. Frans VanLeeuwen suffered a heart attack June 19th but his dinner guest performed chest compressions until San Diego Firefighter/Paramedics arrived.
“Unbelievable and I was totally extremely grateful because she was supposed to be somewhere else that day,”
said VanLeeuwen about his friend Whitney Pratt.
Pratt was visiting from San Francisco when VanLeeuwen’s heart stopped.
“I had a moment of oh my god, oh my god, oh my god and then it was, wait a second, I’ve been trained to do something in this event,”
said Pratt, who received her EMT license 15 years ago but never used the license.
She called 911, cleared some space, and then performed CPR until firefighter arrived.
“I’m so glad that she was there,”
said VanLeeuwan, who was knocking on death’s door but recovered seven days later. Doctors and firefighters credit Pratt’s quick actions for saving his life.
Pratt and the firefighter/paramedics at San Diego’s Station 36 were recognized Monday for their work to save the man’s life.