By Tate Papworth
To say Maninder Shergill is lucky to be alive would be doing a disservice to the team that worked tirelessly to ensure he lived to tell his story.
On March 22, 2019 the 48-year-old Keilor Downs man was preparing for bed when he began to experience discomfort in his chest.
“At about 11.15pm I walked in to my bedroom and told my wife I was struggling to breathe,” Mr Shergill said.
“She got up straight away and started massaging my chest. That’s all I remember. I just collapsed and woke up four days later in the hospital.
“I felt a little uncomfortable in the chest and that was it; I dropped to the floor.”
His distraught wife screamed out to the couple’s 20-year-old son Arshdeep, who immediately sprang into action, calling triple-0 and administering CPR until emergency services arrived.
“I saw a CPR video on YouTube and remembered it, so that’s what I did,” Arshdeep said.
Paramedic Mark said Arshdeep’s actions saved his father’s life.
“Any CPR is better than no CPR, none of us would be here today celebrating this if it wasn’t for CPR at home,” Mark said.
“Even when we do things really well … normally you talk about when the heart is stopped for 25-30 minutes people don’t survive… Maninder’s heart was stopped for 45 minutes.”
Firefighters were the first to arrive on the scene and worked to stabilise Mr Shergill before paramedics were able to attend.
Mr Shergill credits the collaborative effort with saving his life.
Almost a year after the event he said his life is getting back to normal.
“I’m back to work now and doing a lot of walking. I watch what I eat now too,” Mr Shergill said.
“My family depend on me. All of you did a good job and that’s why I’m here telling my story. Without you guys I wouldn’t be here.”
