Windsor student saves father’s life

As Moe sat down to a chicken dinner with his family in Windsor, Ontario, he looked forward to starting his vacation.

“It was a beautiful day,” says Moe, 48, explaining that evening of July 25, 2005 started off like any other with his son, Kevin, finishing his dinner and excusing himself to do “whatever 14-year-olds do.”

But while in his room, Kevin heard his mother call for his help. He came out to find his Dad sitting in the chair, his face purple. Kevin quickly pulled his father onto the floor and performed the Heimlich Manoeuvre three times, dislodging a chicken bone from Moe’s throat.

The Grade 9 student from St. Thomas of Villanova High School had learned the lifesaving skill a few months earlier through the ACT High School CPR program– a program sponsored by DaimlerChrysler Canada and the Canadian Auto Workers-Local 444. Moe is a DaimlerChrysler employee.

“I wasn’t scared at all while doing it,” says Kevin. “I didn’t even think about it. Afterwards, though, I just went into the living room and sat there and I was shaking.”

Moe says he is amazed by his son, who is a hero to him.

“I am just so proud of my son. I feel like shouting it from the top of a mountain,” says Moe. He adds he also has a high regard for his employer for supporting the ACT High School CPR Program, which gave his son the skills and knowledge to save his life.

“It’s very nice to know that the company I work for sponsored this program. This stuff works. You never know when you’ll need to act in a situation.”

The ACT High School CPR Program was made possible at St. Thomas of Villanova High School thanks to generous community and provincial-level support which enabled the donation of mannequins, teacher training and curriculum resources. Community partners are DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc. and the CAW Local 444. Provincial partners of the program are the Government of Ontario, Hydro One, Shoppers Drug Mart, and The Ontario Trillium Foundation.

The Advanced Coronary Treatment (ACT) Foundation is an award-winning, national charitable organization dedicated to establishing CPR in high schools across Canada. ACT raises funds to donate mannequins, teacher training, manuals and other materials to schools, and guides schools in program set-up and long-term sustainability. Teachers teach CPR to their students as a regular part of the curriculum. Over 900,000 youth have been trained in CPR through this lifesaving program to date.

Core partners supporting the program in Ontario and throughout Canada are companies in the research-based pharmaceutical industry: AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, Pfizer Canada and sanofi-aventis. They provide ACT’s sustaining funding and are committed to the Foundation’s national goal of promoting health and empowering Canadians to save lives.