Alberta woman awarded Order of Excellence for turning tragedy into life-saving advocacy

Kim Ruether lifted her son's eyelid and saw his still, dilated pupil staring at the ceiling as he lay on a stretcher in a northwestern Alberta hospital hallway a decade ago.

She says she didn't need a doctor to tell her the boy was dead.

"I just looked at his little face and I thought, 'How could this big, beautiful 16-year-old boy be in this situation?"' she says.

"Then the doctor came over and he said, 'I'm sorry, but we are not going to be able to save your son'… I remember pinching my stomach so hard, thinking I just need to wake up."

Ruether's son, Brock, stopped breathing and collapsed that day while playing volleyball in his high school's gym. An autopsy found it was due to cardiac arrest.

She later discovered the device that could have saved his life sat unused beside him during what would be his final moments.

Ruether heard the recording of the five-minute call his peers made to 911 and learned an automated external defibrillator, or AED, was hanging steps away, next to the gym's doors.

But she said it would have only been helpful had the dispatcher told Brock's peers how to use it while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

"[The dispatcher] said, 'Get it in case we need it later,"' Ruether said.

"So they got it and they put it right beside him on the floor and then just never used it."

Reuther has since become a staunch advocate for dispatchers around the world to learn how to walk callers through how to use defibrillators within seconds of someone going into cardiac arrest.

She is to be recognized for her work during a ceremony in Edmonton in October, when she is to receive the Alberta Order of Excellence from Lt.-Gov Salma Lakhani.

Lakhani says the Alberta Order of Excellence celebrates people who "have contributed so much for the greater good."

"While the recipients this year have made stellar contributions to many different fields, what they share is a dedication and commitment to service and leadership. May they inspire us all to build compassionate and thoughtful communities," she says.