Medford, Ore. — One man is alive tonight thanks to the quick actions of two Superior Athletic Club assistant managers.
One of the employees, Angela Young, said last Monday as she was leaving the gym on Cardley Avenue she was alerted that a 71-year-old man needed medical attention by the racquetball courts. He had suffered a heart attack.
“I dropped to my knees and tried to feel for a pulse and breath, but he was gone,” Young said.
As she began CPR her coworker, Lynda Sorensen, rushed to get the automated external defibrillator.
“Watching my friend do chest compressions I knew we needed an AED if we don’t have a pulse and the rest is history,” Sorensen said.
Sorensen administered shock, and after nearly 30 rounds of CPR the man took a breath, then he took another.
“When the paramedics came I stepped back and everything came into focus and it was like he was gone, and he’s here with us now,” she said. “That was a heavy moment.”
Young and Sorensen said the three now share a bond unlike any other, and they wouldn’t think twice about doing the same thing again.
“It just gives you a better understanding of how short things are and how short life can be,” Sorensen said.
According to Sorensen the man is doing well, is back home with his family, and won’t have any long term heart damage.
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