CHESAPEAKE, Va. - A quick pickleball game with friends turned deadly for one man back on October 4, but he was revived and is healthy today because one woman took action.
Michael Lee was playing a game of pickleball at the Indian River Community Center on October 4 when he says he felt dizzy. A short time later, Lee went into cardiac arrest right there on the court.
An employee at the center immediately acted and performed CPR on the unconscious Lee, calling for an automatic external defibrillator.
Calling 9-1-1 to report cardiac arrest triggers an alert on the Pulse Point app, which immediately went out to people in the area who have the app and a School Resource Officer next door at Indian River Middle School was called to the center along with firefighters and paramedics.
The group of people worked together in a chaotic situation but everyone there that day credit Michelle Ellison, the first person to perform CPR and use the AED, as the person who saved Lee's life.
Statistics show, in the United States, nearly 1,000 people per day will experience cardiac arrest, but very few of them will survive the event. Thanks to Ellison and her quick response, Lee was able to talk to our News 3 crew today about the woman who saved his life.
Chesapeake Fire officials encourage everyone to not only get trained in CPR and standard life-saving techniques, but also to download the PulsePoint app to stay informed about people around you who may need help.
The City of Chesapeake has a few upcoming dates for their hand-only CPR training and to sign up you can click here.
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