How these Coquitlam hockey league players saved their teammate’s life
The BC Emergency Health Services honoured their actions in an award presentation on Sept. 24.
When Sam Bodnaruk woke up, he was getting wheeled to an ambulance out in the rain. He wondered why he was wet.
The last thing he recalled was standing in the dressing room after playing a hockey game at Planet Ice in Coquitlam, and his friend cracking a joke.
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It was Nov. 10, 2023. Bodnaruk’s heart had stopped beating. He fell to the floor.
It was the actions of three of his teammates and the league coordinator that saved the Coquitlam resident’s life. On Sept. 24, B.C. Emergency Health Services honoured their actions, presenting Brennan Megysei and Johnathan Podolski with Commendation Letters and Challenge Coins, and Nathan Aragon and Matthew Slade with Vital Link Awards.
“It feels like it just kind of closes the loop,” Megysei told the Dispatch. “We know it was a great outcome, and we’ve talked about it, recounted the stories since then, but I feel like this is just a way to close the loop, bring everybody together.”
Two years ago
“We joke around a lot in the room. When he went down, all of us were like, ‘Sam, get up,’” said Nathan Aragon, reflecting on that incident.
They quickly realized it wasn’t a joke. Two of the team members, Brennan Megysei and Jonathan Podolski, had first responder experience — Megysei was a respiratory therapist and Podolski was a firefighter recruit at the time.
“Me and Johnny [Jonathan Podolski] jumped in and did the immediate assessment of Sam and determined that eventually he didn’t have a pulse.”
He needed CPR, and Podolski started the compressions.
Meanwhile, there wasn’t cell reception in the dressing room, so Nathan Aragon ran outside and dialled 911. Once he was on the phone with the dispatcher, he said he was running back and forth to update her on how Sam Bodnaruk was doing.
He also waved down coordinator Matthew Slade, who got an automated external defibrillator (AED) and supplies, so Brennan Megysei could start the ventilations.
Podolski applied the pads to Bodnaruk, turned it on, shock advised, and shocked Sam Bodnaruk’s heart.
It took two shocks to get his heart going again, and at that point, they knew he’d be okay.
Bodnaruk spent about a month in the hospital in recovery, and he still isn’t sure what caused his heart to stop. He now has a defibrillator for what he calls “insurance purposes.”
Getting the award
A few weeks ago, BCHES contacted the group to let them know about their awards. Bodnaruk said he “definitely wanted to be out here to support them” and that he is “really appreciative of having good friends.”
At the award presentation on Wednesday, Kevin Lemay, the BCEHS Clinical Operations Manager, Vancouver West, said this story demonstrates why knowledge of CPR is “so important.”
More than 60,000 Canadians have out of hospital cardiac arrests each year, Lemay said. When it happens, a bystander performing CPR and using an AED can increase their chance of survival by up to 50 percent.
“Each person played a vital role and together their actions made the difference in Sam’s positive outcome,” he said.
