Vacation Take a Turn For The Worse Because of Heart Attack
“I was on the back patio with my son working on furniture. And went to walk in the house, that’s when I went down,” said Rudi Tanck.
Rudi had suffered a heart attack while visiting his son in Alabama. After seeing her husband unresponsive, his wife, Joan, called 911 and was told to perform CPR.
But her compressions had no effect. So her son, who had taken a CPR class six months prior, took over.
“And I remember while my son is doing that, one of the things besides saying ‘please god, please god’. I yelled to him to fight. I just kept yelling ‘fight Rudi fight, fight.’”
Paramedics came and took Rudi to the hospital where he eventually came to a couple days later. After coming back home, the Tancks knew it was their son’s quick thinking that saved Rudi’s life.
Paying it Forward
The unfortunate experience prompted the family to team up with Edward Hospital to host some CPR courses at the Knox Presbyterian Church.
“It felt really good,” said Rudi about practicing CPR on a mannequin. The first time was very emotional. “Just thinking that my son did that for eight minutes, I can’t grasp that.”
According to health professionals from Edward, CPR can double or triple a person’s chances of surviving.
Over 30 community members were in attendance for the “Family & Friends” CPR class to learn the life saving technique, and perhaps some other life lessons as well.
“I have just learned to accept that relationships are everything,” said Rudi. “That’s what the whole world is about, and so I just want to revel in those.”
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
