It had been five years since Shawn Beaulne did CPR for the first time. He remembers with clarity, how it felt to kneel beside his brother, after trying for two hours to bring him back to life.
Shawn’s 37 year old brother, Chris, died of a heart attack outside of a fishing cabin on May 14, 2009. He had no history of illness.
Then, in a moment of serendipity, Shawn found himself in the same position years later. This time, it was December 12, 2014. He happened to be the only person around, standing outside of the National Cycling Centre in Hamilton, Canada when a man came running out of the building asking for if anyone knew CPR. This time, Shawn wasn’t going to lose.
“You are not dying on me,” he said to John Marechal. The 56-year old was laying unconscious after finishing an exercise. “I had just finished a 53 km ride on the trainers indoors,” he said. “I felt great. I bent over to pick up my stuff, and two days later I woke up in the hospital. I couldn’t believe it.”
For Beaulne, both of his experiences giving CPR felt the same. The only difference was that he was more determined. “I put all my emotion behind me and concentrated on John. It made me work really hard to save him,” he said.
Marechal, a father of three children and grandfather of four, had a speedy recovery and was back on the cycle shortly after his heart attack, though it was a stressful and emotional time for his family. A year later, and Marechal was ready to get back into his routine and find a way to give thanks to Beaulne for saving his life.
So in 2015, Marechal decided to join the Hamilton Paramedics team in the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Ride for Heart. Riding beside him the entire time were the two that saved his life, Shawn Beaulne and Daryl Cheney– a paramedic that used defibrilators to keep him alive after his heart attack.
The proceeds raised by the Hamilton Paramedics team goes to new automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for the city. So far Marechal has been able to raise $3,500 alone in 2015 — which is enough to buy two new AEDs.
The group plans to continue the tradition in the future. “It’s something we’ll do every year,” said Beaulne. The Hamilton Paramedics cycling team has already raised over $5,000 during this year’s June 5 event.
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