Hockey legend Lanny McDonald says he wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for a Calgary policeman who resuscitated him after he collapsed from a cardiac arrest in February this year. “To be able to come here today, I owe my life right there to Jose,” said Mr. McDonald, referring to Constable Jose Cives of the Calgary Police Service.
The Hockey Hall of Fame forward, 71, was speaking at a Calgary Police Association fundraiser on May 31 where he paid Constable Cives a surprise visit. Mr. McDonald, who co-captained the Calgary Flames to a Stanley Cup crown in 1989, showed up not only with former teammates Tim Hunter, Colin Patterson, and Rick Wamsley, but also with a special guest—the Stanley Cup.
The Stanley Cup was passing through Calgary on May 31, and Mr. McDonald decided to bring it along with him to the event—all to say thank you to the man who saved his life. “Well, he is a local hero,” Mr.
McDonald said in an interview with Calgary Flames TV. “Jose saved my life along with two beautiful nurses that jumped in when I had my cardiac arrest.” “I got a call over the radio whereby I was informed that an adult male had collapsed, possibly a heart attack,” he told Calgary Flames TV.
“I raced down to [the] location they had given me, automatically took over from a male that was doing chest compressions, and continued from there on after.” He said attempts to revive Mr. McDonald seemed to be failing at various points, but he didn’t want to give up.
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