We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.
Gene Roark the Survivor
Gene Roark, 56, suffered a heart attack while at work at Royal Metal Industries on March 18. He had no idea that his heart was in trouble. He had no prior symptoms.
“I’d just been to the doctor a month before, had blood work done, a physical. It’s just one of those things. It just happened so fast,” Roark said.
When Roark went down, plant manager Tony Taylor ran to help.
“I started the CPR first and then I called Will,” Taylor said.
“Tony was giving CPR. He asked me to take over, give first aid,” said Will Mitchell.
“The same guy who called me went to get Margi and the AED machine,” Taylor said.
“I just automatically grabbed it, came out here and dropped to my knees,” said Margi Miller.
“It was scary. We’ve never had to use the machine before and it’s just something you can’t explain,” Miller said.
Workers were 45 seconds away from giving Roark a second shock when emergency crews arrived.
“When you see one of your co-workers go down, it hurts. You’re going to just try to do as much as you can,” Miller said.
Roark returned to work two weeks later with a stent in his left aorta. He said he can’t say enough about the people at Royal Metal Industries.
“After what happened to me, I’m going to take this up on my own to learn it and the AED also because maybe I can pass my good fortune onto someone else,” Roark said.
