My last visit yesterday was supposed to be at 2:00. I had an opening at 1:00, and offered to move my 2:00 to that time slot, and the family agreed (2:00 tends to be right before nap, so 1:00 worked much better for the family anyways). I decided to stop by the gym on my way to the office afterwards, but took my time getting there. Responded to some texts, scheduled work stuff, etc etc. As I was coming out of the bathroom at the gym I saw a man on all fours on the gym floor. I was puzzled, but not overly concerned (people generally want to be left alone while they work out, so I minded my own business). I was putting my bag on the shelf and saw him collapse. I called the gym manager, John, over and we tried to wake him up. It didn't work. I said "we need to call 911," and then directed John to do so. John flips the man onto his back as he talks with 911. I yell at the only other guy in the place (wearing headphones, oblivious) and tell him to straighten the mans legs out because they were crossed. I wanted the blood to flow as well as it could. After he's flipped over I immediately see that his face is purple. He takes a couple very shallow breaths, but nothing consistent. He stares into space, no responses. I check his pulse. He doesn't have one. John is getting the defibrillator and talking with 911 as I'm doing this. When I don't feel a pulse, I immediately start doing compressions. I knew I had to pray for this man, but I didn't have time for words. All I could say was, "please Lord -please Lord!" After doing several rounds of compressions he inhales very rapidly and deeply, like one coming out of water. I check his pulse again; it is faint, but there. John has the defibrillator out at this point. I keep the man calm and steady until help arrives, about 6-7 minutes after the phone call. 6-7 minutes. He would still be dead if somebody on the scene hadn't done something.
If I was there five minutes earlier - or had come in five minutes later, that man would still be dead. I would have missed him completely. I don't say that to boast; I say it to draw attention to the fact that it's so much more than coincidence. John didn't see him go down. The other man in the gym had no idea. I keep playing it over and over again in my head - what if things were different? The man had just joined the gym over the weekend. What if he hadn't been there? What if I hadn't been there? Where else would his heart have stopped? Would somebody else be there to help him in that case? Gods Providential Power was truly evident yesterday - and is evident every day if we just open our eyes.
We went to the hospital to visit him today. On our way into the hospital we see this:
Yep, that's a full rainbow. You seeing the providence yet?
He's doing remarkably well. He has an internal defibrillator, but it failed yesterday. He is having it replaced on Tuesday. Please pray for him. You may not know his name, but God does. We brought him balloons, one of which said "Welcome Back." He thought it was funny. 😊
Moral of the story: take CPR classes. If you can't do that, YouTube how to do compression only CPR. Because you never know when someone needs you to save their life. I'm beyond blessed and jubilant that God chose me to save someone's yesterday. So blessed. ❤️
