Thanks to the determined staff at Pemberton Health Centre, who spent 90 minutes doing CPR, a local man is still alive.

Pemberton Health Centre staff pull out all the stops for ‘miracle’ patient

“I’m not a religious person, but this was kind of like a miracle. I really don’t know how else to describe it.”

You don’t normally hear a physician utter these words, but that’s how Dr. Jim Fuller, Pemberton’s Medical Director, described what happened to a patient who came through the Pemberton Health Centre’s doors in late summer.

John’s story

While out on his usual Saturday mountain bike ride in Pemberton this past August, John Evenson was almost home when he passed out and fell off his bike.

A neighbour luckily happened upon him and walked him home. His wife Kim whisked him straight to the Pemberton Health Centre where he presented with a broken clavicle.

Soon after arriving, John complained of chest pains and was wheeled into the resus room where he went into cardiac arrest. Staff started CPR which they continued for an unusually long 90 minutes. A Vancouver cardiologist, who was on the phone guiding staff to get him ready to be helivaced, told them not to stop.

Prior to this incident John, who is in his early 50s, had no indications of heart problems or any health issue for that matter.

Kim, who stayed in the resus room, remained “cool as a cucumber,” recalls Jim, who along with half the clinic staff, were called into work on their time off.

Team effort

“We just dropped what we were doing and raced to work,” says Jim. “That’s the beauty of being in a small community. We really do look out for each other.”

Kim stood by John’s head, continuously talking to him, telling him, “It’s not your time to go. I love you.”

After 45 minutes of ventricular fibrillation, John’s heart rhythm changed to PEA (pulseless electrical activity).

“He had no pulse so we continued the resuscitation and gave him epinephrine every three minutes, which we luckily had extra on hand that day,” says Jim.

“After an hour and a half, we were going to call off the resus attempt, but I checked his pulse again one last time and to my absolute surprise, he had a pulse. At this point we stopped CPR and did supportive measures while we waited for him to be helivaced to St. Paul’s Hospital.”

Jim was unsure of John’s future when he was flown down to Vancouver. “After such a prolonged downtime we thought he’d have irreversible brain damage.”

Kim and her two children are beyond grateful for the Pemberton medical staff’s efforts as well as the team at St. Paul’s.

“The Pemberton medical team saved his life by never giving up and doing 90 minutes of CPR on him,” Kim says. “Had he not been in the clinic he would not be here with his family today.”

After surgery at St. Paul’s Hospital, the cardiologist informed the couple that John had a type of heart attack knows as “the widow maker,” which is common in men between 50 and 60. A large blood clot had plugged in the main artery of John’s heart – depriving about half of his heart muscle of the oxygen it needed to continue beating.

Two and a half weeks after his accident and surgery, John visited the Health Centre – walking and talking normally.

“I wanted to touch him to see if he was real,” says Jim. “Other than a bit of short-term memory loss, he was fine.  In my entire career, I’ve never seen someone recover as well as John did from such a prolonged resuscitation attempt. But what I think is very special is his wife, who was in the resus room the whole time we were working on him, telling him it wasn’t his time to go, that she still needed him and loved him.”

On the road to recovery

John’s clavicle hasn’t fully healed, but he is making progress with his heart health, riding a stationary bike for 55 minutes every day and being closely monitored by doctors.

There will be no skiing this winter or mountain biking until the clavicle is fully healed. In the meantime, John remains forever grateful to the staff at the Pemberton Health Centre.

“They are awesome,” says John. “I can’t say enough about them. They saved my life. They kept going and going and it paid off.”

John and Kim also extend their thanks to the staff at St. Paul’s.

  1. Nina Mejia

    Great work everyone …Miracle comes and We have to Believe.

    November 30, 2016
  2. Clay Adams

    An amazing story that demonstrates what a great team of health care professionals work across VCH. Am proud to hear such stories and feel great knowing that should I – Heaven forbid – find myself in a situation like John, I will be in great hands. Kudos to all involved at Pemberton, VGH and St. Paul’s and for the great work you all do day in and day out.

    November 29, 2016
  3. Lee-Ann Boyd

    I love this town!! You have all been there for me over the years and I am also forever grateful!!!

    November 26, 2016
  4. ALMA BAKER

    Congratulations! I know that I have been near death with asthma and they never gave up and I always knew if I arrived they just looked after me and then called the doctor. Pemberton may be a small community but the staff are over the top amazing and give care that is rare in any hospital I have ever been to.

    Way to go to all the doctors and nurses in Pemberton BC! Keep doing what you know best – saving lives.

    Alma Baker

    November 26, 2016
  5. Sharon Keogh

    As an emergency nurse in Australia & having been involved in patient care during cardiac arrest, I can’t praise the awesome team at Pemberton Health centre enough, for their dedication to savings John’s life. The fact that he has no long term brain damage is incredible in itself. Their brilliance is now well known to my colleagues. As I said to my sister, Kim, they are the real heroes and the reason John is alive. On behalf of John’s extended Australian family, we are, & will always be, forever grateful to the team at Pemberton Medical centre, for not giving up, and giving John the most precious gift of all. Sharon Keogh , Grafton, NSW, Australia.

    November 26, 2016
  6. Jan Gazley

    An excellent case study of the importance of a strong team and of including family as pivotal members to solidify the team.

    November 25, 2016
    • PJ

      Kudos to BCPTN

      November 26, 2016
  7. sandy Livingstone

    I’ve just read the account of John’s recovery and am delighted, even more so in that Jim Fuller is my son in law. I always knew that he had very fixed views and not one to give up without a struggle, he would need to have these qualities having married our middle daughter Claire. If only we in the rest of the civilised world had such dedicated and determined teams of health professionals as Pemberton, as they are all professionals and dedicated, the world would be a better place.
    Sandy Livingstone. Fernhurst, West Sussex, England

    November 25, 2016
  8. Tammy McIntyre

    Nice work team!!! You guys are real heroes!

    November 24, 2016
  9. Sukhdev Sedhu

    What Great Work by a Great Team! Take Heart All and One!

    November 24, 2016