Raychel Gilles | Saving a life at the rink

On September 15, 2019 something tragic changed my life forever.

For the past three years, I have been score keeping my dad’s pick up hockey games every Sunday and on September 15 I did something that I never thought I could do.

It was towards the end of the hour-long game when I saw the goalie laying face down on the ice not moving. All of the players circled around the goalie. My dad waved me over from the scorekeeper’s box and I came on the ice and noticed that he was doing something that sounded like snoring and I automatically thought of apnea, which is little to no breathing and when the snoring occurs it is the body’s last chance of starting breathing again.

I checked for the carotid pulse and felt nothing, so I went to check for the pulse on the wrist and felt nothing. I told the players standing around to take off his chest protector and helmet and equipment so I can get to his chest. I also yelled for someone to get me the AED and call 9-1-1 while I was doing chest compressions.

Once the AED came to me I put the pads on where they were supposed to go and shocked him once. When that was over I went back to chest compressions and I waited 15 minutes for the paramedics to arrive. Once they arrived I was still doing CPR and I shocked the goalie once again with the paramedic right next to me. The paramedics set up their equipment on him and they put him on the stretcher and sent him off to the Southlake Hospital in Newmarket, Ontario.

I am an Aurora Panther in my last year of house league and I also play for the DS (select) team with the Panthers. I have been working with the Peewee Orange Crush team on teaching CPR to the community and trying to raise money to have AED at outdoor skating rinks so that others can save more lives!

I am beyond grateful for all of the publicity I have been getting and the attention of CPR and AED training is very important to me. I really want to inform the communities about the importance of the training.

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