Quick action saves a life at Randburg Bowls Club

Quick thinking and quick actions by three fellow bowlers saved a man’s life at Randburg Bowls Club.

While playing in the Johannesburg Bowls Association district mixed pairs competition at the Boskruin-based bowls club on 31 January, a man in his mid-60s suffered a heart attack. Upon noticing that the man had collapsed, Laurel Ledger, a visiting bowler of Old Parktonian Bowls Club, and Fanus Viviers a visiting bowler of Roosevelt Park Bowling Club started to administer CPR to their fellow bowler. In a stroke of good fortune, Randburg Bowls Club is one of the few clubs that has an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) machine.

This proved to be decisive in saving the man’s life. Kevin Celliers of the home club rushed to fetch the machine, and Ledger proceeded to use it on the man to ‘shock’ him and restore the rhythm of his heartbeat. Ledger who runs a swimming school and is trained to administer CPR said, “I am just glad I was there and able to do something to save the man’s life. Thank goodness Randburg has an AED as I am certain that this ensured that his life was saved.”

The victim was in ICU for two days after being operated on but was in a stable condition. Laurie Stafford, president of Randburg Bowls Club said, “We are very pleased with the bowler’s actions and the fact that we were equipped to handle the emergency, and that this incident did not lead to tragedy. Thank you to Laurel, Fanus and Kevin for the parts they played in saving our fellow bowler’s life. This highlights the importance of having knowledge of CPR. With this in mind, the club will be running a course for its members and will make this course open to anybody in the community.”

Details: Randburg Bowls Club info@randburgbowls.org.za; 082 308 8471.