Rider’s life saved
Surf lifesavers, public resuscitate injured cyclist who stopped breathing
Asurf-shop worker who comes from a family of doctors told yesterday how he helped revive a man who had stopped breathing after a cycle accident.
“It was a pretty awesome feeling to get him back. Not quite what you expect at a surf carnival,” said 23-year-old Sam Roy about the O¯ hope Beach drama.
Roy was finishing a race at the Champions of the Bays surf lifesaving carnival on Saturday when a woman came running for help after the cyclist was involved in a crash with a car at the beach carpark.
Four lifesavers at the carnival got in a buggy with a trauma kit and rushed to the accident scene 500m down the beach, where two members of the public were performing CPR on the man.
The man was lying on the road with minor abrasions after the accident about midday. It was 30C and locals set up a tent using beach umbrellas to provide shade.
The other lifesavers involved in the rescue were Whakatane Surf Lifesaving Club patrol captain Hamish Reid, Sam Teteina, of Bethells Beach Surf Club, and the first aider at the carnival, Charlotte Pawerel.
The lifesavers swung into action with a defibrillator, oxygen and Roy doing CPR, alternating the demanding job with a member of the public. After seven to 10 minutes, the rescuers picked up an intermittent pulse and breathing.
“It was a team effort, I only did part of the job,” said Roy, who has a degree in physiology majoring in cardiology, level-three first aid for surf lifesaving and comes from a family of doctors and paramedics.
“I have grown up with that kind of stuff and am pretty inspired from those sort of guys and hopefully what they taught me was put to good use. It was really good that members of the public started quickly,” said Roy, a member of Mount Maunganui Surf Lifeguard Service, who works at a local surf shop.
Reid, who has been a surf lifesaver for 37 years, said the actions of the public and surf lifesavers saved the man’s life.
“Once we got oxygen onto him and could get oxygen circulating in his body we managed to bring some colour back in. When we arrived he was quite grey, which isn’t a good sign.
“That was probably the first time I have had to work on someone who wasn’t responsive. I have had plenty of people who have had surfboard fin cuts, whacks to the head, rescues and that kind of stuff, but this was a first,” Reid said.
Shortly after the group resuscitated the man, ambulances arrived and paramedics took over and transferred the man to hospital. The cyclist, believed to be in his late 40s or early 50s, remains in a critical condition at Whakatäne Hospital.