How a stranger used CPR to save a GTA mom — and why the Red Cross wants you to know about it

Less than a month after delivering her baby girl, 27-year-old Anastasiya Kaczmarek never would have imagined she would have a sudden cardiac arrest.

"Everyone who saw me that day said I was fine, being myself. I actually have no memory of that day or a couple days before it," she told CBC News Monday as she stood not far from the spot where she collapsed. It happened just metres from her home  in Georgetown, Ont., about 54 kilometres northwest of Toronto.

On Sept. 17, Kaczmarek left for a short walk with her newborn to meet her husband who had just picked up their toddler from daycare. When he called to check up on her, Miles Kaczmarek said he was surprised when a man picked up the phone. It was their neighbour explaining what had happened. He rushed over.

"It's a surreal experience to see someone that you love be in a state where they're unresponsive and lying on the ground and not being themselves," Miles said.

A few neighbours stopped to help and called 911, but it was the actions of a local resident who happened to drive by. He likely played a big role in saving her life, giving her cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for approximately 10 minutes before paramedics arrived and she was taken to Georgetown Hospital.

"It takes a really dedicated person to jump in," Anastasiya said.

November is CPR month, a time when the Canadian Red Cross highlights the importance of getting trained in the emergency procedure, which uses chest compressions to mimic how the heart pumps. These compressions help keep blood flowing throughout the body and can help save a person's life if their breathing or heart stops. 

The Red Cross says effective bystander CPR, when used in conjunction with an automated external defibrillator (AED) and administered immediately following cardiac arrest, can double a person's chance of survival. Medical experts say cardiac arrests rose during the pandemic due to a delay in care, and they stress the importance of more people educating themselves on how to save a life.

Chris Giles says he happened to be driving by shortly after Kaczmarek collapsed and stopped to check on her.

"I realized she was in serious distress; no pulse, not breathing and right away I administered CPR until [paramedics] arrived," he said.

"I was in law enforcement for quite a while and received lots of training and lots of experience there. All that culminated into helping this young lady."

Kaczmarek was later told by doctors her heart stopped beating properly that day — going into a flutter called ventricular fibrillation, a dangerous type of arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat.

Dr. Katherine Allan, a PhD researcher with Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital who specializes in cardiac arrest research in young people,  says around 35,000 Canadians each year suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, around 7,000 in Ontario.

"You may think it can't happen to you, but it can really happen to anyone, so it's really important anyone knows how to save a life," she said, adding she's a big believer in kids learning the procedures too.