Don & Hutch: Now friendlier than even
Don & Hutch’s story
A sudden cardiac arrest is a traumatic experience for everyone involved. For the victim this can be a frightening experience that they in more cases than not may not survive. For the person or people trying to save a life, panic and worry about not doing it right, will often cause intense stress and self-recrimination and evaluation afterwards.
Sometimes people are so scared of doing something wrong, they do the worst thing of all and that is they do nothing at all.
The truth is that if you stand back and do nothing, you have to live with the fact that had you acted, the victim may have lived. Sadly with only 9% of people surviving a SCA, this is a common scenario.
Luckily for mates Don and Hutch this didn’t happen. They fell into the 9% of SCA emergencies where the victim survived and people at the scene made it happen. We are not saying that dealing with a SCA is easy for anyone, but it certainly goes better for everyone concerned, if you do the right thing and jump in ‘as any attempt at resuscitation is better than no attempt’. That way both parties and the victim’s family can sleep a little better at night!
Watch Hutch’s reunion story - Ch 7 Sunrise (3:30 mins)
Don & Hutch Q & A
We asked mates Don & Hutch what they could remember about their incident.
First up we asked Don about his experience.
Q: Don, how did you feel when you realised that Hutch was having a cardiac arrest? What was going through your mind?
DON: “OMG this is serious! I jumped into action mode. I was totally in the moment and thought what do I need to do to help? “
Q: When you realised Hutch wasn’t breathing/no pulse, what exactly did you think? Did you think he was dead?
DON: I was scared shitless. I thought Hutch was dead. I had done CPR training maybe 35 years ago and was trying to do this now but I was way out of my depth. What really helped were a couple of other willing first responders (Anne, Caroline & Tim) who jumped in and the fab 000 operator on the other end of the phone calmly coaching us in what to do.
Q: When you were giving Hutch CPR, were you confident in what you were doing?
Don: I wasn’t confident at all as it had been so long since I had done any sort of CPR training and this was my mate of 15-20 years. I was scared, Hutch’s life was teetering on a knife edge, but I just tried to put the fear aside and be super focused. There was nothing else I could do.
Q: 19 minutes was a long time for Hutch to be ‘clinically dead’. Did you think you had lost him? Describe what that was like.
Don: Yes I though he was dead. Especially after the paramedics had shocked him twice with the defibrillator and he was still not responding. It was when they were loading him in the back of the ambulance and the heat of the moment was taken away from me that I started to get emotional and teary and I yelled at Hutch to pull through. It was an emotional reflex outburst that I couldn’t control.
Q: Did you break Hutch’s ribs? Did you know that you had to do it? What did it feel like?
Don: I didn’t break his ribs on purpose. I don’t care what Hutch says! (laughing). It’s just that I was so focused on doing the CPR it just happened. Nobody even realised his ribs were broken until he came out of a coma. The medics told me that around 40% of quality CPR result in broken ribs and it is a good sign that the cardiac compressions were done with enough force.
Q: Does Hutch blame you for breaking his ribs?
Don: Haha! He tries to! I try to shift the blame to the paramedics but he doesn’t believe me. We have a good laugh about it. Even though his ribs can still be a little sore, he says it’s a nice problem to have when you think about what could have been the alternative.
Q: You two have been mates for a long time. What’s the secret of your friendship?
Hutch is always so positive and happy-go-lucky and he says I am also. I think that’s why we are such good mates – similar values. We try and help each other out in positive, supportive ways and can still see the light and funny side of the shit that life can throw at us.
We asked Hutch about his recollections of the experience.
Q: Hutch, what do you remember from your sudden cardiac arrest?
Hutch: I don’t remember anything about it. I can’t remember anything about that day – lucky hey! My memory slowly started returning over the four days after being woken up from the being in a coma.
Q: Did you know you had a heart condition?
Hutch: A few weeks earlier, for the first time ever in my life I had blacked out on my bike on the way home from the gym. It was a strange feeling and I remember thinking, OMG is this how it ends? I’m glad I have a will! I then woke up a few minutes later on the road in the recovery position and an ambo on the way, thanks to a local life saver. I had all the tests done, but they found nothing.
Then a few weeks later POW the big one!! Dead for 19 minutes and nothing! We are still not exactly sure what happened to me as I had no risk factors. My blood was sent overseas for genetic testing, but so far hasn’t been able to pick up anything concrete. In the meantime, my direct family and daughter have done some preliminary screening - and nothing there either… so the mystery continues.
Q: Do you recall your first thoughts when you finally came to?
Hutch: I came to, very slowly after the a coma, so it was a long drawn out transitional blur over a couple of days. I kept asking my family members “what happened?”. I couldn’t remember anything about the accident or even what they told me. I drove them mad asking the same question “what happened?’ 50 times a day for the first few days. After a while, they got so bored with my constant questioning, so for their own entertainment started coming up with very creative and random answers until my memory started to stabalise.
Q: Did you think you were going to die?
Hutch: Luckily I didn’t remember anything, not even my though pattern at the time. I do remember the first small incident a few weeks earlier (which found nothing) but the big one is a total blank.
Q: How do you feel about Don now?
Hutch: He’s my best mate and along with the other first responders, without question, saved my life. Yes he broke my ribs and tried to shift the blame but this is just a bit of banter between mates. He did give me the kiss of life also during CPR, but we promised each other never to mention that again (laughing). After he saved my life I ‘generously’ bought him a $100 scratchie to win it big (but no luck there) Haha!. We have both been through a lot in our lives and always try to help each other out. It was just my turn this time around.
Friendly?… Now CPR friendly
The two mates have learned a lot from Hutch’s sudden cardiac arrest. Together they are now working to spread the word about the power to save a life with CPR through www.CPRfriendly.org . Their fun take on life, friendship and background in conference speaking and events is now helping to save other lives in an entertaining and unique way, with a fun twist.
Laugh, learn and live with Don & Hutch at your next conference / event (watch the video below)
