Angry? Make Some Noise!
Story by Anne Ball
Gary Anthon was rushing with his wife at DFW Airport to catch a vacation flight when -- while boarding a train that connects concourses -- he suddenly didn’t feel right. He took a knee, then fell clinically dead in sudden cardiac arrest.
Two men sprang into action; one pushed on Gary’s chest, initiating CPR. The other stopped the train, ran out and found an AED. Soon, they administered the life-saving shock that restarted Gary’s heart.
Those two men went on to catch their flights, but their identities remain a mystery.
Now Gary wants help to find them to thank them for saving his life.
At Six Minutes to Live, where we tell stories to inspire life-saving action, we knew the perfect journalist to tell Gary’s tale: Rhea Sinha.
The high school journalist developed a passion for saving lives when, as a junior, she learned that her school had a lot to learn about sudden cardiac arrests and AEDs. Her newspaper story, which detailed how anyone -- young or old -- can be struck down by an SCA, was shared nationwide.
Now she is sharing her own story. Journalism, she says, gave her the courage to take life-saving action. She not only shined a spotlight on the issue, she also organized CPR training at her school.
“Do something in your own unique way,” she says. Whether you have the heart of a journalist, a fundraiser, or an organizer of gatherings, you can make change happen.
Just get it started, Rhea says. “Make some noise about it.”
It’s undeniable that Gary was lucky that those two men were on the train when he fell. Rhea is glad for Gary – and she’s also mad.
“It shouldn’t come down to luck whether you live or die,” she says, admitting it makes her angry – which she says can be focused for good in the areas of awareness and preparedness.
The rescuers who had the courage to act saved not only Gary (a father and grandfather), but his entire family. You don’t need to be a professional to save lives, Rhea says, you primarily need to care -- and know that change starts with you.