L.A. Fitness trainer saves man with CPR after heart attack

L.A. Fitness trainer saves man with CPR after heart attack

Without any warning, a Twin  Cities man collapsed at the gym after suffering  a heart attack, but a quick-thinking trainer at L.A. Fitness in Richfield  happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Personal trainer Chris Ransom had just learned CPR a few weeks ago, but he  never thought he would have to use it. Now, he’s being called a hero.

Saying 55-year-old Bill Richardson is in great shape is actually an  understatement.

“I think this was going to be my 22nd Twin Cities Marathon,” he said.

Yet, the unexpected happened when Richardson went to his gym for his usual  walk and conditioning routine in early October.

“I saw Bill lie down here,” Ransom demonstrated. “He was face down.”

Ransom said Richardson was unconscious and wasn’t breathing.

“As I flip him over on his back, his whole face was purple,” he recalled.

So, he began to performed CPR.

“Just pushing down on the chest, getting the oxygen up from the lungs to the  brain,” Ransom explained.

That quick response bought Richardson enough time for the paramedics to  arrive and do the rest.

“It takes a lot of courage to do what he did,” Richardson said. “I think a  lot of people would stand around, waiting for someone else to jump in  there.”

At the hospital, doctors said Richardson’s heart attack was caused by two  blocked arteries.

“They call what I had ‘the widow maker’ because most people don’t’ survive  that,” he said.

The close call could have had a very different outcome if it hadn’t been for  Ransom.

“I called him from the hospital and told him thanks for being my guardian  angel,” Richardson said.

After his experience, Ransom is now encouraging others to learn CPR.

“I’m just thankful that I had the opportunity that was given to me to learn  the basics of saving someone’s life,” he said.

Richardson has since been advised to take at least a year off before running  another marathon, but maybe Ransom will run the next one with him.

Read more: L.A. Fitness trainer saves man with CPR after heart attack – KMSP-TV http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/23994332/la-fitness-trainer-saves-man-with-cpr-after-heart-attack#ixzz2l0LEsgiH