'It just wasn't his time': Meet the Ottawa woman who helped save jogger's life

Adele Gawley was driving home from Starbucks in Barrhaven Wednesday morning when, while passing Neill Nesbitt Park, she saw a group of workers in orange safety vests huddled over the body of a man on the ground.

"I just, without thinking — it was kind of involuntary — I just pulled my car over and got out of the car and went over to see what was wrong," Gawley told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning Thursday.

"My first thought was that someone had perhaps been hit by a car, but as I got closer it was clear that there was no blood on his shirt. But by the colour of his skin, [I could tell that] something was very wrong. [It was] verging on purple or blue."

A few moments later, after getting the man on his side as a safety precaution, City of Ottawa parks employee Troy Featherston asked whether they should start compressions.

They turned him onto his back, then Gawley — a trained lifeguard— pressed on his rib cage to find the right place for Featherston to start compressions while another landscaper stayed on the phone with 911 dispatchers, giving updates.

'Flipped into a different side of my brain'

"I just sort of flipped into a different side of my brain and all of those things just came back and we worked together as a team," Gawley said.

"I just knew what needed to be done and immediately, when Troy started compressions, I could see that his colour started to change, so I knew that it was working and he began to take some breaths. So it was quite clear quite quickly that we were right, that his heart had stopped, and that the compressions were working."

Paramedics arrived a short time later. They gave the man two shocks using a defibrillator and injected him with epinephrine. He regained circulation and was able to breathe and move on his own, paramedics said.

He was then taken to hospital, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.

Paramedics are crediting Gawley and Featherston for helping to save the man's life.

'Really hope that he is OK'

"CPR initiated by bystanders is one of the crucial links of the chain of survival for cardiac arrests," paramedic spokesperson Supt. Marc-Antoine Deschamps wrote in a media release paramedics issued Wednesday.

"Without this important step, chances of survival are greatly diminished. The City of Ottawa park worker and bystander worked together to save that man's life."

Gawley said the runner wasn't carrying ID, and that she's been unable to get an update on his condition.

"I feel very humbled by what everybody is saying and very grateful that the three of us were there together and able to make that happen, and I just really hope that he is OK," Gawley said.

"It's definitely not something you anticipate happening, but I feel like it was all meant to be. The three of us were meant to be there and it just wasn't his time, and I'm glad we could help.

"It was a team effort."