Posted on 11/27/2021
Sinuhe Vega and Greg Ori
Sinuhe Vega and Greg Ori

Survivor: Greg Ori

Date of Event:

Location of Event: Orlando, Florida

Rescuer(s):
Sinuhe Vega

My wife and I had been walking daily in preparation for a hiking trip we planned to take out West. At the end of each walk, I sit on the porch and evaluate our walks through Fitbit, while my wife continues a “cool down” walk for about a block to reduce her heart rate.

On April 6, 2021, my wife just happened to cut her cool down walk short. As she was walking up the driveway she asked “Greg, are you feeling okay? You look awfully pale.” It was at this point, when she approached the chair, she realized I was not breathing. She started to shake me and yell my name very loudly to no effect.

She called 911 and told the dispatcher that I was having a heart attack sitting in the chair. The dispatcher said that she needed to get me out of the chair immediately and lay me on the porch. Unsure as to how she was going to lift a “dead weight” out of the chair, our neighbor, Sinuhe Vega, who lives across the street, miraculously appeared.

Sinuhe is an artist who has a studio in his garage and this was the first day in two weeks that he had an opportunity to work in his garage. He heard my wife yelling my name and came over to see what was going on. He lifted me out of the chair and started CPR, based on the dispatcher’s instructions over the phone. Sinuhe has never been trained, or ever had done, CPR in his life.

Since we live right downtown and about a mile and a half from the hospital, the EMTs arrived promptly. They discovered I had ventricular fibrillation and used a defibrillator on me.

At the hospital, it was determined that I did not have a heart attack, but rather sudden cardiac arrest due to an electrical issue with the heart. There was no damage to the heart and heart function was normal. I did receive triple bypass surgery and a defibrillator was implanted in my chest as a precaution.

Had it not been for the heroic actions of my neighbor, Sinuhe Vega, I would not be here today! Thank you, Sinuhe, for your heroic actions.

Nominated by Sue Ori

Share