APPLE OF HIS EYE

Maslyn Dansereau, right, was recognized Monday for saving her father Martin Dansereau’s life. She performed CPR for more than 20 minutes after he collapsed in cardiac arrest.

According to Martin Dansereau, at least two miracles occurred to save his life on a Friday night a little over a year ago.

The first was that his 20-yearold daughter Maslyn Dansereau resisted the opportunity to go out with friends so she could stay home and study for her exams.

The second was that she had received training in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, a life-saving skill he needed after collapsing in full cardiac arrest while on a treadmill.

The young woman’s persistence in performing CPR for more than 20 minutes proved to be the difference in not only keeping her father alive, but also allowing him to make a full recovery.

“Those who you have taken CPR, you know how hard it is do CPR for five minutes, never mind 20,” Martin said of the Jan. 15, 2016, event.

“My ribs still hurt, but it’s a good thing. I owe her my life.”

On Monday, provincial health leaders celebrated his daughter’s achievement as part of a campaign to get more people proficient in CPR and first aid.

Katherine Nilson, spokeswoman for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, said Canadians who suffer a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital have just a seven- to 10-percent chance of surviving, largely because of a lack of “bystander knowledge” of CPR.

Too few people are taking courses to learn the skill, while others have not kept up their training, she said.

Maslyn Dansereau received her CPR skills as part of the requirements of MacEwan University’s psychiatric nurse program. When she saw her 51-year-old father face down on the floor near the treadmill, the training took over.

“I just reacted. At that time, I didn’t even think it was my dad. I just thought this is a person who needs my help,” she said. “The reality didn’t really kick in until he was already in the ambulance. I was outside and one the firefighters came up to me and said, ‘Good job, you just saved his life.’”

Darren Sandbeck, chief paramedic at Alberta Health Services, said crews who responded to the Dansereaus’ Leduc County home that night “knew they were witnessing something amazing” when Martin Dansereau awoke in the ambulance and asked why his chest hurt.

Sandbeck said patients who go extended periods without a pulse typically experience some neurological damage, but the man had come through with seemingly no ill effects.

Two stents in his heart, Martin Dansereau is now leading a normal life after completing a rehabilitation program and adopting a host of healthy lifestyle changes.

As for his daughter, she and her sister, Blaise Smith, 31, have started up their own CPR awareness campaign called It Could be You.

Their website, itcouldbeyou.ca, encourages visitors to sign up for a course. The sisters even offer the occasional one-hour orientation session to give people the basics on CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator.

Those who you have taken CPR, you know how hard it is do CPR for five minutes, never mind 20. MARTIN DANSEREAU