Saturday, May 7, 2022 was a routine day for Aaron Theaker. The 44-year-old Regina man was attending a race event at King’s Park Speedway, just north of the city, with his wife Tenille. However, the day’s routine was shaken when Aaron suffered a heart attack and required emergency medical care.
“It hit me out of the blue,” Aaron recalls. “The last thing I remember was clapping during the final lap. I’m told I was speaking to someone when I did a complete face plant.”
Fortunately, a pair of off-duty nurses leapt into action, administering CPR while waiting for the ambulance crew to arrive on the scene. Once they arrived, the EMTs quickly hooked Aaron up to the portable LUCAS chest compression system in the ambulance.
The LUCAS system provides mechanical chest compressions to patients in cardiac arrest. It is mostly used as an alternative to manual CPR because it provides consistent compressions at a fixed rate, maintaining uninterrupted cardiopulmonary resuscitation even through difficult or long transportations to the hospital.
“The whole thing was so surreal,” Tenille observed. “Here was my husband hooked up to this machine. They had to shock Aaron three times to bring him back. I felt so helpless, yet I knew he was in the best hands possible. That gave me faith.”
Her faith was rewarded when Aaron was rushed to Regina’s General Hospital and the exceptional Cardiac Care Unit at the Mosaic Heart Centre. Although an extensive battery of tests was unable to determine the exact cause of his heart failure, our electrophysiologist, Dr. Omar Sultan, a cardiologist who specializes in the heart’s electrical system, inserted a pacemaker to control Aaron’s heartbeat. He spent a week in the hospital and is back to normal, working and enjoying his life.
“It’s amazing how everything seemed to fall into place,” Aaron said. “If those nurses weren’t at the track that day. If the EMTs didn’t have the LUCAS machine. If we didn’t have the amazing team at the Mosaic Heart Centre and the cutting-edge technology they use, I simply wouldn’t be here today.”
“We’re so grateful to everyone,” continued Tenille. “That includes everyone who supports fundraising efforts by Hospitals of Regina Foundation to help them give those medical teams the tools they need to save lives.”
“Aaron’s story is living proof of the importance of supporting world-class cardiac care for the people of southern Saskatchewan,” says Lisa Green, senior vice-president, Hospitals of Regina Foundation. “Thanks to the generous support of our donors and partners like Mosaic, we’re ensuring that the best level of care is available right here at home, when people need it most.”