Sprawled across a footpath motionless, the life of a 66-year-old Nelson Bay man hung in the balance last Monday.
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If not for the action of two passers by the man only known to first respondents as ‘David’ might not have survived long enough for paramedics to have any hope.
Michelle Hudson was on her way to work about 8am when she came across the scene at the Gowrie Street bus shelter.
“I only stopped my car to see what was wrong,” she said.
“I very quickly realised that he wasn’t breathing.”
The medical episode is believed to have caused David to fall from the bus stop bench, from which witnesses said he had been seated, talking, only moments earlier.
Wedged under the shelter Ms Hudson received help to pull him clear onto the footpath so she could begin compressions.
“There was a lady who had been talking to him right up until he collapsed,” Ms Hudson said.
“I thought I might need her help so I had a school boy take the phone to relay any information I might need from the operator.”
She estimated it was five minutes before anyone stopped to help. It came in the shape of retained fire fighter, Fingal Bay patrol captain and bus driver Marty Thompson.
He wasted no time taking over compressions.
“I have to be honest, I was relieved when Marty knew what he was doing,” Ms Hudson said.
About six passengers waited on the bus while Mr Thompson came to her aid.
“It was the first time I’ve had to use it,” he said.
“It’s true what they say, the training just kicks in. I could see Michelle tiring and my only thought was to relieve her.”
The duo focused focused their efforts on strong, consistent compressions as per their training, until paramedics and police arrived.
From there the patient was taken to Bill Strong Oval so he could be transferred to the John Hunter Hospital.
The Examiner understands that paramedics have privately shared their gratitude to those who administered the first aid.
Mr Thompson said he was merely part of a chain of survival that day.
“It was really a team effort,” he said.
“Even the lady he had been talking to him, she said she wasn’t much help, but she had the presence of mind to call 000. Getting someone on the chest in a situation like this is crucial, it doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to happen.”
When the paramedics were able to establish signs of life Mr Thompson returned to the bus.
“One of the passengers said to me, ‘if I ever go, I want you there’,” Mr Thompson said.
“I’ve sometimes wondered what if, and hoped not to have happen. But it wasn’t until I stopped in Newcastle and sat there that I thought, ‘did that really just happen’?”
Mr Thompson said if nothing else the episode might educate people in the value of stopping to assist.
“If that’s one thing to come out of this, that would be really good,” he said.
“People might say to themselves, ‘it’s under control, what can I do’? Having done this, I will never not stop in the future.”
Ms Hudson said she spoke briefly to David over the phone on Sunday, shortly after he was transferred out of the intensive care unit into the coronary unit.
“It was only a short conversation but considering everything he’s sounding OK,” she said.
On reflection, she said David had been lucky.
As a nurse at Shoal Bay and Anna Bay Medical Centre, she said good help was crucial.
“There’s been incidents at the practice but I haven’t been involved in a setting like this before,” she said.
“If you can get that strong chest movement happening, that’s what is really important.
“But other than Marty, no one else stopped to see if they could help.”