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This is why he lives in Terrace, B.C.

Quick action of trained personnel saves a woman's life

Dear Sir:

On May 10 we had a terrible situation occur in our Canadian Tire garden centre. One of our friends (and fellow staff members) collapsed.

She was working with someone and we all wear communication radios so within a minute her manager was by her side gently easing her to a comfortable position on the ground.

She wasn't breathing and her heart had stopped. At that time a customer shopping in the garden centre asked the manager to step aside as he was trained in these situations. He immediately started CPR.

Turns out he was an off duty Thornhill firefighter. As he was working on our friend he was joined by another customer who was an off duty nurse. The quick action of these two individuals definitely saved her life.

They were joined within minutes by the Terrace Fire Department and shortly after by the BC Ambulance Service paramedics but without the actions of our two heroes her chances of survival would have been much, much worse.

I moved here 13 years ago with the thoughts that I would be here for three to five years. I don't fish or hunt so what would the attraction be to stay?

Thirteen years later I can tell you I am here because of the amazing people. How lucky were we to have two trained individuals shopping with us at the time of this tragedy, the fire department responding within five minutes and paramedics minutes after that. She also received excellent care at Mills Memorial, again only minutes away.

In many or most of the larger population centres we would have lost her.

Only 10 days after the incident, on May 21, I hugged my friend. She is back in Terrace and will have to take some time to recover but she is doing great.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped give her the care she needed. Terrace is a wonderful place. I wouldn't live anywhere else.

And that's why I live in Terrace.

Bryan Gascon,

Associate Dealer,

Canadian Tire,

Terrace, BC