When Ned Morgan left home on a mild Tuesday morning in October, he had no idea he’d end up saving someone’s life.
“It was a very normal morning,” Mr Morgan said.
The 19-year-old, who works for Nine Mile Demolition based in Rushworth, started work at the normal time, around 7am.
The first job was postponed, so he and some colleagues moved on to another.
They decided to go to a site in south Shepparton first.
They weren’t supposed to be there for another hour or so.
Had Mr Morgan gone to a different job first, John Head might not be alive today.
Anyone involved in the arts in Greater Shepparton knows Mr Head’s name, and likely his dry wit.
A local artist himself, Mr Head is also a board member of the Shepparton Art Museum Foundation, he’s a former Shepparton Festival director and he’s involved in theatre.
He also fixes feet on the side, as owner and principal podiatrist of Shepparton Foot Clinic.
He doesn’t remember much from that particular Tuesday morning.
But he’s been told the survival rates for what he went through are low.
Mr Head was getting ready for work when he went into cardiac arrest.
His heart stopped beating and he collapsed.
Mr Morgan was outside, setting up caution tape before removing some asbestos, when Mr Head’s wife, Chris, ran outside.
“Chris comes running out, really frantic, you can tell something’s gone wrong. She’s yelling out, ‘my husband’s having a heart attack’,” Mr Morgan said.
Some of the workers on-site called an ambulance.
Mr Morgan went inside to the bathroom where he found Mr Head lying on the floor, unresponsive.
He said it was a confronting sight, but he was on the phone with an emergency services operator and his training kicked in.
Mr Morgan may be only 19, but he said he’d done three first aid courses — two through his lifeguard training and one at his school, Rochester Secondary College.
“They teach you CPR on the dummy and that’s pretty much how I knew how to do it,” he said.
“I knew where to put my hands, that’s the sort of thing that came back.”
It was the first time he’d ever performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a real person, but he said his instincts took over.
Mr Morgan said it was extremely important for everyone to know the basics of CPR.
“I can’t stress enough for people to go out and just get a first aid course and just keep doing it at least every couple of years,” he said.
“I think it’s an important thing for people to know how to do.
“It really can save lives.”
Mr Head is living proof of this.
“If there wasn’t someone who had seen it happen, and someone who jumped in to start CPR immediately, the survival rate is under 10 per cent is what I was told,” Mr Head said.
“I’m very thankful.”
Every year in Australia, more than 26,000 people have a cardiac arrest out of hospital.
Only a fraction survive.
But quick action from bystanders can improve chances of survival after a cardiac arrest, according to the Heart Foundation.
CPR, even when performed only with compressions and without the rescue breaths commonly referred to as ‘mouth-to-mouth’, significantly increases the chance of survival.
Mr Morgan said he performed CPR for over five minutes until the ambulance arrived.
Paramedics continued CPR and delivered shocks to help restart Mr Head’s heart before transporting him to hospital.
Mr Head has no memory of the life-saving treatment he received at his home.
He said it was dramatic and frightening for his family to witness, but he ultimately came out of it okay.
Mr Head said anyone was capable of doing CPR, and he urged people to step forward if they saw someone having a cardiac arrest.
“He just pumped my chest and that allowed oxygen to circulate through my system and allowed my brain to stay alive and come out the other side unscathed,” Mr Head said.
Just over a month later, Mr Head is home again, he’s back at work, he’s riding his bike, he’s having dinners with family and friends and he’s cracking jokes (many of them about the fact that he nearly died).
Recently, Mr Head got to meet the young man who made that possible.
“I’m unbelievably grateful and impressed with the young man who had the wherewithal to step forward and take charge.”
For Mr Morgan, learning Mr Head survived and then getting to see him was remarkable.
“It was awesome. It’s probably one of the best things I’ve experienced,” Mr Morgan said.
“It was a really good feeling knowing he was fine, and not even just alive, but completely fine.”
Mr Morgan encouraged everyone to learn how to help if someone had a heart attack or a cardiac arrest, and to be ready to step in when needed.
“It can just happen at any time,” Mr Morgan said.
“It was the last thing I thought was going to happen that morning.
“You can’t plan for it, but you can have the training so if it does happen you know what to do.”
For more information about the symptoms of cardiac arrest and how to help, visit the Heart Foundation website at tinyurl.com/3mnc5uk6
Find a local CPR or first aid course at tinyurl.com/3t6ew2nc