“TO be given a second chance to live is a bonus.”
So said Long Soo Keat, 49, who was revived after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest on Sept 1 by five students from Chung Ling High School (CLHS).
Long was about to walk out of the school football field when he abruptly collapsed. The five students – Gabriel Soon Chai Long, 16, Liong Jun Yong, 16, Shaman Suresh, 14, Ansley Tan Zhong, 14, and Tang Yi Ze, 14 – were coincidentally on duty as members of the St John Ambulance during the CLHS alumni football competition and immediately attended to him.
They performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) and also used an automated external defibrillator (AED) that the school had kept for emergency use to keep Long’s heart beating.
“I had been playing futsal for the past two years and I had never felt any discomfort. On that particular day, I had probably overstretched myself in the second match. I didn’t know what happened after I blacked out and only regained consciousness after three or four days in the hospital,” Long said.
“That was the first time I had a cardiac attack and I wish there will never be a second time. I’m grateful that I’m now normal. And I am thankful to all the five students and other personnel who helped me.”
Long was so delighted to meet his rescuers for the first time today that he hugged each of them during the mass CPR-AED programme that was held at the pesta site in Sungai Nibong. In fact, he was among the 1,100 participants for the half-day programme which was officiated by state Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Rural Development and Health Committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin.
“Everybody can learn CPR and use AED. Every day, there are cardiac arrest cases happening in Penang and Malaysia, and if we have the knowledge and skills, we can help save somebody.
“If the boys had not performed CPR on me, my brain would have been damaged after four minutes. I am really, really very lucky because in Malaysia, I was told that the survival rate is only 1% and I’m in that 1%. God has arranged everything for me to live on.”
To show their appreciation of the help given to Long and the importance of having an AED, Long, on behalf of his Class of 87, donated two cheques totalling RM17,000 – one to Chung Ling High School (CLHS) and another to Penang Hospital Blood Bank – for them to purchase an AED machine each.
Present to give Long the moral support at the event were his CL87 classmates like Tan Joo Teik, Choong Shuit Thang, Lim Kee Seah, Khaw Fook Soon and Tan Su Zoo.
The AED for CLHS is to be placed at the guardhouse near the main field and the other for the Penang Hospital Blood Bank is for its mobile unit to use during its blood donation drive.
Long, who now restricts himself to walking exercises, and his wife, Lim Chun Siew, 38, are real estate agents. They have three children, aged 14, five and three.
Penang Heart Safe Programme chairman Datuk Dr Luah Lean Wah said it is vital for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivors to see a cardiologist for checkup.
“For Long Soo Keat’s case, he actually had a coronary artery disease. He had a triple vessel disease. That’s why after surviving, he immediately went to see a cardiologist to get the blocked vessels stented.
“Not all SCA survivors have blocked vessels. Sometimes, it could be due to overexertion or electrical disturbances of the heart. It could be a one-off thing. It may not be due to the heart like electrolyte imbalances or excessive sweating. But some can have a structural defect of the heart.
“If anybody collapses, they have to seriously look into their heart and see whether anything can be done. If it is due to coronary artery disease, they have to consult a physician or cardiologist to modify their lifestyle, to take medication, to control their cholesterol or other treatment.”
For Long to have gone through this harrowing experience, his advice to others is “Go for a regular checkup.”
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Darwina Mohd Daud