Gratitude

Too often in today’s face paced world we take so much for granted. From shelter and food to life itself.

As a paramedic I often see people in situations they never dreamed of being in. I get called to help those having the worst day of their lives every shift.

One day in October my coworkers and I were called to such an emergency. A female was having chest pain. She was young, active, and healthy yet she had already had one heart attack. She looked as though she was having another. Her ECG didn’t show any abnormalities. I helped the ambulance crew load her into the truck, start an IV, and get her stabilised for transport. Although she looked as though she was having a heart attack, she also looked stable enough to transport without incident.

A few minutes after leaving the scene, her heart stopped beating. She went into a rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation where the bottom part of the heart quivers instead of pumping blood because the electrical activity of the heart has gone haywire. The crew pulled the ambulance onto the side of the road and called for helped. They were able to start CPR and deliver two shocks. Her heart started again.

By the time I made it to the ambulance not only was her heart working but she was talking. A patient talking immediately after cardiac arrest is amazing!

Three months later she asked to meet the crew who saved her life. Gratitude spilled through her every word. She told us her experience and what she remembers.

She said after leaving her street all she remembers is floating amongst the clouds until she was in the catheterisation lab where they opened her blocked arteries and then it was a few days after that before she remembers anything else.

During our meeting she hugged us and thanked us. She gave us all soft, fluffy white blankets to remind us of the clouds she was surrounded by while technically dead. She gave me and the other female responder the bracelet pictured above. It is called the Path of Life.

It’s not often we have the privilege of meeting people whose lives we have touched. It truly gives you a new perspective on life. It shows you the blessings you have and fills you with gratitude anew.