'I'm indebted to these guys': First responder, former cop save N.S. man's life in hockey rink
John Guinan, like he had done countless times in his life, hit the ice and started skating. He was moving around the net when, without warning, he was plunged into darkness and hit the ground, and waking up looking at the men who saved his life.
“I had a cardiac arrest,” said Guinan, who is from Truro, N.S. “There was no feeling per se, things just went black. It was like a lamp being unplugged.”
Nigel Leggett, a first responder, and Greg Whalen, a former police officer, leapt into action to save Guinan’s life on the ice on March 7.
“We got him rolled over and got his hockey gear out of the way,” Leggett said. “You could tell by the colour… he had left us at that point. Greg came back with the AED (automated external defibrillator) and the shock went off and probably within 90 seconds John was talking with us.”
Whalen said last July a player left the bench saying they didn’t feel well and was soon taken to hospital as they suffered a heart attack. Whalen took the initiative to set up First Aid protocols on the bench.
“When Johnny had his incident, that protocol, I believe, helped save his life,” Whalen said.
Guinan is deeply grateful to the people who helped save him and hopes by sharing the story it will benefit others.
“I’m indebted to these guys, it’s a debt I’ll never be able to repay,” he said. “It’s my hope we can turn this (into something) for the benefit of all.
“The most sincere, heartfelt thank you I can muster.”
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
Correction
A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Greg Whalen as a paramedic.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.