Surrey senior saved by microwave technician who followed his gut

A senior living in South Surrey who was saved by a microwave technician's timely intervention was released from hospital Thursday.

The elderly man had been lying on the floor of his home for several days before the technician found him.

Fernando Solano, a senior technician at Han Appliances, was scheduled to install a new microwave at the home of 85-year-old Charles Ferraby on Sept. 18.

When Solano arrived at the house, there was no answer to his repeated knocking at the door or to several phone calls throughout the morning.

"Usually when that happens to me, I just put our card and what time we were there to reschedule," said the repairman.

But on that day, he had a feeling that he shouldn't move on to his next installation.

"I sat down in the truck, turned on the car … I had this feeling that I had to go back."

Solano went back to knock on the door once again. Peeking through the door's window, he noticed legs lying on the floor of the hallway.

"I got nervous and started knocking louder and ringing the bell," he said. "I just kept on knocking and yelling out, "Sir, sir are you OK?' And then I saw one of his legs twitched."

That's when Solano called 911. First responders showed up and Solano used tools from his truck to help them gain access through a latched window.

They found Ferraby almost unresponsive and took him to Peace Arch Hospital where he stayed in acute care for six weeks.

Daughter says technician went 'above and beyond'

Ferraby's daughter, Linda McKinley, later called the technician to thank him.

"Once it sunk in what he had done we realized that he had indeed saved my father's life," she said.    

She says her father was suffering from a long-running infection which eventually left him weak and lying on the floor, unable to reach the phone.

McKinley lives hours away from South Surrey on the Sunshine Coast and adds that it's a relief to know that someone was looking out for her father.

"What makes a community really nice and where everyone wants to live is when people look out for each other and care about each other and quite obviously that was this gentleman."

She later showed her gratitude by writing an email to Han Appliances underlining Solano's actions in going "above and beyond" his responsibilities as an employee.

Ferraby has recovered from his infection and was released from the hospital Thursday afternoon.