Sabato Borrelli, who lived to see his 87th birthday – credit, Vanessa Caporicci

From Montreal comes the story of a Good Samaritan who saved an elderly man’s life by performing CPR for 20 minutes before paramedics arrived.

Without following-up at all with his ‘patient,’ the stranger vanished back into society, and the victim’s family have been left without anyone to hug or thank.

The Borrelli family of Montreal is now looking for help finding the savior of Sabato, its 86-year-old patriarch, who collapsed from cardiac arrest on his routine walk around Jarry Park, or at least that’s what Sabato’s daughter Gloria thinks.

“This gentleman, or woman or child—I don’t know who saved my father,” she said. “All they wanted was this person to have a chance and he was given that chance.”

Unlike hospital television dramas or action films, the stranger didn’t give up after 45 seconds and start pounding on the patient’s chest shouting “come on!” but rather called 911 and persisted with chest compressions for 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

That rescue allowed Borrelli to celebrate his 87th birthday over the weekend while recovering in the hospital, where he suffered a second cardiac arrest following the first.

Borrelli’s other daughter, Lucy Orfeo, was there when her father awoke, which she described as very emotional. Orfeo lost her daughter to cardiac arrest resulting from a brain hemorrhage when she was only 20.

“‘If you’re kind you can change the world,’ that’s what she would say. That was her thing, so it’s kind of like what’s fueling me,” said Orfeo about her search for the person who saved Borrelli.

CBC spoke with a emergency room physician who said that anyone can be like that stranger and save a life provided they have the courage to approach a fallen individual.

CPR SAVIORS:

“If the citizen as a Good Samaritan doesn’t act right now before the first responder and the ambulance comes in, the chance of survival is essentially zero,” said Dr. François de Champlain to CBC News, reporting on the story from Montreal.

The first step de Champlain says is to call 911. Not only will this ensure professionals eventually arrive, but the operator can explain how to perform chest compressions or use a defibrillator if one happens to be at hand, in case the caller doesn’t know or is too frightened.

Dr. de Champlain said that chest compressions are carried out by pressing with one hand atop the other in the center of the chest between the nipple line with locked elbows to the beat of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, or between 100 and 120 beats per minute.

WATCH the story below from CBC News… 

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