Jack was preparing to fly overseas for a family wedding when he decided to fit in one last workout - a run he’d done many times before in the Papamoa Hills Regional Park.
It was a familiar track, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“I was easing my way down when I passed out,” Jack recalls.
What he didn’t realise was that he was experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped beating.
Strangers stepped in to save his life
Fortunately, help arrived almost immediately - and in an incredible stroke of luck, the first person to reach Jack was a qualified Emergency Medical Technician.
He began CPR straight away, working urgently to restart Jack’s heart.
Soon after, another person arrived and ran to retrieve one of the public defibrillators located along the track. Together, these quick-thinking bystanders used the defibrillator and continued CPR until they were able to restore Jack’s heartbeat.
Their actions saved his life.
But Jack was still critically unwell and needed urgent specialist care.
The Aerocool Rescue Helicopter was dispatched, arriving within minutes with a Critical Care Flight Paramedic and advanced life-support equipment onboard.
The Aerocool Rescue Helicopter crew quickly assessed Jack, stabilised his condition, and prepared him for immediate transport.
“They got me to Tauranga Hospital pretty quickly,” Jack says. “It couldn’t have been smoother. That’s the beauty of the chopper. This is a great example of when and why we need them.”
Jack was flown directly to hospital, where he received the urgent cardiac care he needed.
Jack has since recovered and reflects on how fortunate he was - from the trained responder who happened to be nearby, to the availability of a public defibrillator, and the speed of the rescue helicopter.
Sudden cardiac arrest can happen without warning, even to fit and active people. In Jack’s case, the chain of survival - early CPR, rapid defibrillation, and fast air transport to hospital - made all the difference.
Today, Jack is alive because everything worked exactly as it should when seconds mattered most.
Because you never know when you'll need your rescue helicopter. Donate Today > https://give.rescue.org.nz/event/aerocool-rescue-helicopter/donate
