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Siera Edstrand remembers the terrifying moment on June 5, 2021, when she saw her little brother, Gunnar, floating face down in the shallow end of her family’s backyard pool in West Vancouver.
“He was submerged in the water. He was purple and his lips were blue,” she said. “That was the scariest moment of my life.”
Fortunately, Edstrand, who was only 13 at the time, knew what to do. The Grade 10 student had previously attended a lifeguarding camp at West Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club, where she had learned CPR.
The teen pulled her brother out of the pool and immediately began chest compressions while yelling for her mother to call 911.
“It was a fight or flight moment,” said Siera, now 15.
Yesica Edstrand, Siera and Gunnar’s mother, said she’d just stepped into the kitchen for a moment when disaster struck. After calling 911 she took over CPR – something she’d learned almost two decades earlier.
She also prayed, she said, pleading, “Please don’t take him. Not now. Not like this.”
Waiting for her son to respond was the longest minute of her life, she said.
Then he began breathing again.
“I think a lot of it is a miracle that he’s here with us today,” she said.
By the time ambulance paramedics arrived, Gunnar was alert and crying.
On Saturday (Oct. 8), both mother and daughter were honoured by BC Emergency Health Services at the ambulance station in North Vancouver for their life-saving actions with a Vital Link award.
The award recognizes the crucial role average people can play in the moments between when the unthinkable happens and when emergency responders arrive.
The quick actions of Gunnar’s family members saved his life, said Laurence Darlington, who was the advanced care paramedic who responded to the call.
Their happy outcome underlines the importance of learning CPR, said Darlington. Even people with the most basic training can step in and be talked through it by emergency call takers while waiting for help to arrive, he said.
“We can see how simple and effective those skills are in saving a life. It makes the difference between life and death.”
Even more than formal training, having the bravery to step up is what counts, said Darlington. In the case of cardiac arrest, “seconds and minutes are what counts.”
In her own case, Siera said she’d taken the lifesaving course just for fun and had also learned about CPR by watching scenes in movies of people performing it.
“I didn’t think I’d use it and I saved my brother’s life,” she said. “If you have the opportunity to take a lifesaving course, definitely take it.”
Yesica said the experience has made her want to upgrade her skills.
“In an emergency, you never know how you’re going to react,” she said. “I learned it a long time ago, but it came back.”
She added that she’s forever grateful that her daughter knew what to do – and had the courage to act.
She makes a point of telling Siera, “Thank you for responding,” she said. “For doing the right thing in the right moment.”
