Tommy Chan, from Ottawa, Ontario, went for a 5K run but doesn’t remember anything after that. All he knows is what the doctors told him — that he suffered a post-run cardiac arrest. A bit of detective work revealed where he was when he collapsed, thanks to a running app called Strava that revealed that he finished his 5K at 7:50 p.m. in the area of Bronson and Carling in Ottawa. A smartwatch that’s attached to the app to track his heart rate had a lapse just after that time. Meanwhile, paramedics said when they arrived, a woman was performing CPR on Chan. Deep bruising and a broken rib were two souvenirs of the stranger’s kindness. It turns out that Tawnya Shimizu was on a walk with her daughter that day, when she saw a commotion near her car. It appeared that a man had collapsed. That man was Tommy Chan. Someone had called 911 and Tawnya could hear the 911 operator giving directions on how to perform CPR. Rushing over, Tawnya, who is a nurse, went into “work mode” and began to administer CPR. Not long after, paramedics arrived and used the defibrillator, rushing Chan to the hospital afterward. Tawnya was left wondering whatever happened to Chan. Some weeks later, Chan posted an account of the event online with the header “Did you save my life?” Word made its way back to Tawnya, who was able to get in touch with Chan after learning he had, in fact, survived. Chan said he gave Tawnya the biggest thank you, and the pair plan to meet in the coming days.
