IN December last year, Linton\u2019s Janet Verdoorn went into cardiac arrest at her home\u2019s back door.<\/p>\n
Her heart stopped beating, but quick-thinking family and neighbours worked together, and were able to save her life.<\/p>\n
Earlier that morning, Hans Verdoorn remembers his wife waking up \u201cextremely ill,\u201d knowing there was something wrong.<\/p>\n
She was nauseous, had bad chest pain, was sweating, and all while recovering from a knee replacement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI yelled out to our granddaughter, Lexi, to get Janet\u2019s walker, and by the time we turned around, she\u2019d dropped dead, and her colour went straight away,\u201d Mr Verdoorn said.<\/p>\n
Over the other side of the road at Linton Larder, caf\u00e9 owner Carl Oberhauser was greeting Daryll Lees on the footpath as he arrived for his morning coffee.<\/p>\n
The pair heard Mr Verdoorn shout for help over his front fence and they ran over to assist.<\/p>\n
Mr Lees dialled 000 and put the emergency call taker on loudspeaker, Mr Oberhauser began work to clear Mrs Verdoorn\u2019s airways, gave mouth-to-mouth and CPR, while nine-year-old Lexi held up a blanket to keep her grandmother out of the sun.<\/p>\n
Mr Verdoorn also rang his brother, Frank for further support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 000 call-taker said to get a defibrillator, so I was heading to the fire station, where there\u2019s one in the truck, but a gentleman across the road yelled out, \u2018there\u2019s one right here at the Police Station\u2019,\u201d Frank Verdoorn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grabbed it within two minutes, and it made all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Oberhauser was grateful for the call-taker\u2019s coaching down the phoneline, and for the automated external defibrillator\u2019s straightforward usability.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t seen a defibrillator for 25 years, but it has the best idiot-proof card, and for those that can\u2019t read, you just press a button and it tells you what to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow every sports and recreation club doesn\u2019t have one of these is beyond me. In these small country towns, we need them, and Janet would not be alive without one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a team effort, we all chipped in in our own way. It was a great outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least 20 minutes after Mrs Verdoorn collapsed, Ambulance officers arrived from Skipton, and then a mobile intensive care car from Ballarat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the defibrillator, and with CPR alone, it would have been too late,\u201d Mr Verdoorn said.<\/p>\n
If the emergency had occurred days earlier, the Police Station\u2019s AED would not have been available.<\/p>\n
Although the town had other AEDs in a few locations, all were within locked facilities most people could not access.<\/p>\n
Earlier in 2020, Linton resident Marion Coleman sparked the community conversation surrounding the need for an easily accessible defibrillator in town.<\/p>\n
This brand-new system at the police station was bought by Pittong\u2019s Suvo Minerals, and installed by just days before Mrs Verdoorn\u2019s heart stopped.<\/p>\n
She said every part of the story makes it a \u201cmiracle.\u201d Mrs Verdoorn has recovered well, is strong and healthy, just with a \u201ccouple of little memory blips.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t remember a thing, aren\u2019t I lucky?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Golden Plains Shire, Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria congratulated and thanked all of the community responders at Linton Larder last Thursday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IN December last year, Linton\u2019s Janet Verdoorn went into cardiac arrest at her home\u2019s back door. Her heart stopped beating, but quick-thinking family and neighbours worked together, and were able to save her life. Earlier that morning, Hans Verdoorn remembers his wife waking up \u201cextremely ill,\u201d knowing there was something wrong. She was nauseous, had […]<\/p>\n