A lunch-break workout among friends suddenly took a turn when Skye Maynard collapsed on the street, had a seizure and went into cardiac arrest
The incident happened during a sprint section of the high-intensity workout when participants were running around the block at BPM Fitness Centre in Saanich, just a block from the B.C. Emergency Health Services headquarters
“I started to feel out of breath, like I couldn’t catch my breath,” said Maynard, a mother of three young children
She decided to stop running, then started to lose her peripheral vision
She remembers nothing after that except waking up in the hospital
When Maynard collapsed, her friend and nursing colleague Lara Kesteloo sprang into action, instructing others to call 911 while she began lifesaving CPR
The former emergency room nurse directed people to create a safe zone for her to work, assessed her friend, positioned Maynard so she could receive CPR and administered it while answering questions from the crowd and 911 operator
Kesteloo’s quick response bought Maynard time before paramedics arrived with an automated external defibrillator or AED, said primary care paramedic Noel Morton, who awarded Kesteloo with a B.C. Emergency Health Services commendation letter and challenge coin this week in recognition of her swift actions on that day, Sept. 14, 2024
“Lara did everything right at that point,” Morton said
When paramedics arrived, one shock from the AED zapped Maynard’s heart back into rhythm, saving her life
Despite her background in emergency nursing, Kesteloo said the ordeal was much different from what she was used to in emergencies in a hospital setting, where she would be surrounded by a team and re
“You’re fighting self-doubt every step of the way,” she said. “You’re fighting those thoughts of ‘what if?’ ”
After Maynard was stabilized, Kesteloo said, she debriefed with paramedics who helped to connect her with mental-health re
“It took a number of days to bring the nerves down,” she said
She said she worked through the incident in counselling and was lucky to have support from her workplace to take time off and recover
Maynard said doctors weren’t able to figure out what had caused her heart to stop, noting she was healthy and had done the same workout plenty of times before
She called Kesteloo her “life-saver.”
“I’m super proud of her. She’s a very selfless person all around.”
Morton said the incident demonstrates why CPR is so essential
More than 60,000 Canadians experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital annually, and chances of survival drop by 10 per cent for every minute a patient goes without CPR, he said
Maynard, who is also trained in CPR, said she never thought it would be used on her
Training more people in the skill will help save lives like hers, she said. “I would encourage everybody just to do it.”
Janet Power, executive director of Veterans Memorial Lodge, said Kesteloo and Maynard are crucial members of her team, working as care managers
“They save lives all the time with everything they do — and to save each other is just amazing.”
