Hi, my name is Saanvi from T2123. I’m in 8th grade. I have a story to tell you. This summer, I saved someone by doing CPR.
We were wrapping up our vacation in India. We were coming back to the US and we were at the airport. We were running about an hour late, and it was 2 am and the lines were longer than usual. After driving for almost 2 hours to get to the airport, we arrived and once we were in check-in, I decided to use the bathroom. So I walk in and find this lady (she was a flight attendant) unconscious. There were three women around her, one of which was a janitor, and they all were panicking. She wasn’t breathing, nor did she have a pulse. I stood there in shock for about 30 seconds before snapping out of it as they tried to do CPR on her. I saw that they didn’t have experience and were just trying to go at it, and I realized they could accidentally break her ribs or injure her in another way.
As a scout, I have been trained in CPR and dealing with emergencies just like this. I asked them if I could help and after their consent, I started doing chest compressions. After about one minute, she started breathing again and I could feel her pulse. By this time, the medical team arrived and took her out in a wheelchair. After letting them know I did CPR and that she was breathing, I moved out of the way and tried to find my parents.
I was in a sense of shock and was on the verge of breaking down; for some reason, all I could think was how much easier it is to do CPR on an actual body than on a dummy. Thankfully, my mom saw me, and I just fell apart as soon as I met her. I can’t imagine what everyone around me, as well as my dad and sister, were thinking when I saw them. It took me about 15-20 minutes to calm down.
I really don’t know from where I got the courage to offer help and do CPR. I believe that if you can help, you always should because that can be the difference between a life saved and a life let go. I would like to thank my parents, who put me in scouts and supported me through my journey. I’d like to thank my adult leaders for all the guidance, I couldn’t do much otherwise. I’d like to thank the counselors who taught me CPR. This was a crazy experience, but I am grateful I was able to help the woman.