Photo: Contributed

Sharon Flanagan with lifesavers Braeden Wallace, Scott Fellhauer, Alyssa Christie and Marte Volk.

Four lifesavers at Kelowna's H2O Centre have been awarded for their actions.

Scott Fellhauer, Alyssa Christie, Marte Volk and Braeden Wallace received commendations from the Lifesaving Society at its annual awards banquet in Vancouver.

The group sprang into actions when Sharon Flanagan went into cardiac arrest and collapsed during a zumba class at the aquatic and fitness centre in November.

“I don’t remember anything,” says Flanagan. “I looked up at the clock near the end of the class and thought, I am just going to grab my stuff before I pick up my daughter from child minding, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in Kelowna General Hospital."

The YMCA staff members rushed to Flanagan's aid. Fellhauer immediately began CPR, while the others administered oxygen and brought out the centre's automated external defibrillator.  

“The AED prompted us to shock right away,” said Fellhauer, a YMCA lifeguard of more than six years. “We continued to do CPR for a while and the AED prompted us to shock again.”

After several ups and downs, Flanagan's heart eventually returned to its normal rhythm and she started to breathe on her own again. She was taken to hospital by ambulance.

“It is really emotional,” said Sharon with tears in her eyes. “If it weren’t for this really awesome group of people, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t think there is anything I could possibly say or do to ever repay them.... It is a scary situation to hear a doctor say that if I didn’t have an AED on me within 10 minutes, that would have been it.”

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the use of CPR and AEDs during the early stages of a cardiac arrest improves survival rates by 75 per cent. 

Learn more about related courses offered at the Kelowna Family YMCA and H2O Adventure + Fitness Centre including CPR, First Aid and AED Responder at ymcaokanagan.ca or call 250-491-9622.