osoab
7th November 2011, 03:24 PM
Good deed quickly repaid on Wisconsin highway (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-good-deed-quickly-repaid-on-wisconsin-highway-20111107,0,1388292.story)
MENOMONIE, Wis. -- A Canadian man who had just helped a motorist change a tire in western Wisconsin had his good deed quickly repaid when, just minutes later, that same motorist helped to save his life.
Victor Giesbrecht, of Winnipeg, was driving on Interstate Hwy. 94 east of Menomonie when he helped a motorist change a tire.
According to the Wisconsin State Patrol, just moments after driving away, the 61-year-old had a heart attack (http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/health/physical-conditions/heart-attack-HEISY000062.topic). His wife helped stop the pickup truck and, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (http://www.startribune.com/local/133356023.html), along came the motorists whom Giesbrecht had just helped.
They stopped, 911 was called, and one of the vehicle's occupants, Lisa Meier of Eau Claire, Wis., began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Giesbrecht.
When police arrived, one used an automated external defibrillator to help Giesbrecht regain a pulse. According to the newspaper, Giesbrecht was then airlifted via helicopter to Mayo Clinic (http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/health/hospitals-clinics/mayo-clinic-ORGHC0000013.topic) Health System in Eau Claire, where he is in serious condition today.
Patrol Sgt. Michael Newton says if the Giesbrechts hadn't helped with the tire, his initial rescuer may not have been there to help.
"If he had been a few more miles down the road and had his heart attack, it could have been a different outcome," Newton told the Star-Tribune. "It's an interesting turn of fate."
He said Giesbrecht had suffered another heart attack about a year earlier.
Newton added that Dunn County having an AED on hand "was the tipping point" in saving Giesbrecht's life.
"Without that defibrillator, I don't know that the outcome would've been the same," he said.
MENOMONIE, Wis. -- A Canadian man who had just helped a motorist change a tire in western Wisconsin had his good deed quickly repaid when, just minutes later, that same motorist helped to save his life.
Victor Giesbrecht, of Winnipeg, was driving on Interstate Hwy. 94 east of Menomonie when he helped a motorist change a tire.
According to the Wisconsin State Patrol, just moments after driving away, the 61-year-old had a heart attack (http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/health/physical-conditions/heart-attack-HEISY000062.topic). His wife helped stop the pickup truck and, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (http://www.startribune.com/local/133356023.html), along came the motorists whom Giesbrecht had just helped.
They stopped, 911 was called, and one of the vehicle's occupants, Lisa Meier of Eau Claire, Wis., began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Giesbrecht.
When police arrived, one used an automated external defibrillator to help Giesbrecht regain a pulse. According to the newspaper, Giesbrecht was then airlifted via helicopter to Mayo Clinic (http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/health/hospitals-clinics/mayo-clinic-ORGHC0000013.topic) Health System in Eau Claire, where he is in serious condition today.
Patrol Sgt. Michael Newton says if the Giesbrechts hadn't helped with the tire, his initial rescuer may not have been there to help.
"If he had been a few more miles down the road and had his heart attack, it could have been a different outcome," Newton told the Star-Tribune. "It's an interesting turn of fate."
He said Giesbrecht had suffered another heart attack about a year earlier.
Newton added that Dunn County having an AED on hand "was the tipping point" in saving Giesbrecht's life.
"Without that defibrillator, I don't know that the outcome would've been the same," he said.