SAN DIEGO, CA--Bill Keen began the New Year in a truly heartwarming way.
While working out at L.A. Fitness in Encinitas early on Sunday, so he could watch the Chargers’ playoff game, the Kaiser cardiologist heard two basketball players frantically ask for medical help. A man had collapsed in the gym.
Keen found the victim in complete cardiac arrest with no pulse. CPR was futile but Keen was able to shock the man back to life with the facility’s automatic defibrillator.
“I never got his name,” recalls Keen, “but I spoke to his teenage son who, unbeknown to me, was standing there the whole time watching his dad ...be resuscitated. What a horrible experience for this kid. He came up to me, looked me in the eye, shook my hand and thanked me. It’s times like this that I love being a doctor.”
The boy’s father was conscious by the time paramedics arrived.
For Keen, it was an upbeat start to the new year. Plus, it created a win-win for the Chargers on Sunday. Had the team not been in the 10:05 a.m. playoff game, Keen would not have visited the gym so early, and the story could have had a far more tragic ending.
SOURCE: UT San Diego