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Kelowna woman's CPR training saved a life

Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

KELOWNA - Terry Keenan was having dinner with a friend, when he stood up, handed over his glass of wine and collapsed. If it wasn’t for a Kelowna woman, Keenan might have died.

On July 28, 2016, Keenan was having dinner at Sandalwood Retirement Resort in Kelowna with his friend Dr. Sterling Haynes when he suffered a heart attack.

“He stood up, and just as I took his wine glass he turned blue and collapsed,” Haynes said.

Haynes, 89, is a retired general practioner who also lives at Sandalwood. He knew Keenan was having a heart attack within seconds. Haynes had begun to clear Keenan’s airways when Angela Munson rushed over to help. Munson began to preform CPR.

“It all happened so quickly,” Munson says. “When I started CPR there was no response, absolutely nothing.”

Munson has worked at Sandalwood for two years as a concierge. Although she has taken a CPR training course, she never used the technique outside of a classroom until that evening.

“People rushed up to me saying something terrible had happened and I needed to come right away,” Munson says. “I just wondered what it could be.”

When Munson got to the dining room, she says Keenan was already on the floor and had completely changed colour.

Angela Munson was awarded a Silver Life Saving Award from St. John Ambulance on Feb. 7, 2017. Pictured from left to right: Dr. Sterling Haynes, nominator Vicki Kascak, award recipient Angela Munson, Terry Keenan whose life was saved and Jean Chute with the St. John Society of B.C. and Yukon.
Angela Munson was awarded a Silver Life Saving Award from St. John Ambulance on Feb. 7, 2017. Pictured from left to right: Dr. Sterling Haynes, nominator Vicki Kascak, award recipient Angela Munson, Terry Keenan whose life was saved and Jean Chute with the St. John Society of B.C. and Yukon.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED

“From what I’ve been told Angela did all the heavy work, She pounded on me for a good 15 to 20 minutes,” Keenan says. “I was out like a light.”

It took around 15 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

“It was the worst time to have a heart attack - it was rush hour traffic,” Haynes says.

Keenan was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery. About two weeks later, Keenan woke up to find his two sons in the hospital room with him.

“They asked me where I thought I was, I just looked around and said 'well, it looks like a hospital.' We all had a laugh.”

Munson was awarded the Silver Life Saving Award by St. John Ambulance on Feb. 7. A Silver Life Saving Award is presented to someone who has saved, or attempted to save someone, without putting themselves in harms way.

“When something like this happens, you either do what you have to do, or you can’t, and I did,” Munson says.

For Munson, the fact that Keenan is alive, is a miracle.

“If you don’t believe miracles, let me tell you, when I got to him, he was gone. He is our miracle.”


To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Hickman or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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