CPR gives local man another chance at life
Nov. 29--LEBANON -- Nearly two years ago, a senior man apparently fell dead in his driveway on a pile of snow after one of that brutal winter's snowstorms.
But he experienced another chance at life due to CPR, a procedure now being taught in public schools as part of the health curriculum.
Gary Jarvis, 69, doesn't remember too much from the time he collapsed to when he woke up from a coma days later.
He does remember what he was doing up until the moment that could have been his last breath. He was going out to "catch a breath of fresh air" and admits "that was kind of a lie."
Instead, he knew he was going out to do a little bit of snow shoveling and to clean the snow off his truck after a January 2015 snowstorm.
Due to his age and previous medical history, Jarvis knew that wasn't the best idea.
He said he's "tested fate" a number of times, since he has a family history of heart troubles.
He had a heart attack 23 years ago and his father lived with atherosclerosis heart disease for 15 years prior to his death.
But still, Jarvis went out of his house to shovel snow on Jan. 28, 2015. He was standing with his back to the main road, looking in the direction of the garage.
Suddenly, his heart stopped working and he collapsed, lifeless, to the ground.
"I never saw it coming," Jarvis said of going into cardiac arrest.
He has no recollection of this happening, but he's very thankful for what happened next.
Luckily, his son, Ryan Jarvis of Lebanon, who was 24 at the time, knew his father didn't just go out to enjoy the fresh air.
He went to check on his father.
"He knows what I'm going to get into," Gary Jarvis said. "Tragically he found me dead. But he did what he had to do. He was my hero."
While Ryan Jarvis doesn't talk about that day, Gary Jarvis said he has heard bits and pieces of what happened from other people.
He does know his son started CPR and called for the ambulance and that a stranger driving down Exeter Road saw Ryan Jarvis performing CPR.
" Between the two of them, they kept CPR going," Gary Jarvis said.
The two were able to keep CPR going until members of the Lebanon Volunteer Fire Department were ready to take over.
He's been told he needed to be shocked a number of times and, several times, emergency personnel were able to find a pulse and then "lost it" before they were able to get a consistent pulse.
Gary Jarvis said he was transported via ambulance to Windham Community Memorial Hospital in Willimantic and was immediately air lifted via Life Star helicopter to Hartford Hospital.
He said a doctor told his family he "wasn't going to make it."
And on a day when his family decided not to visit because a snowstorm had made the drive "risky," Gary Jarvis woke up.
"I seem to remember I had my back to the highway looking at the garage and then I remember my eyes popping open ... and a nurse saying 'do you know where you are,'" he said.
Gary Jarvis wasn't certain and the nurse told him he was at Hartford Hospital.
The day he woke up, Gary Jarvis talked to his son and his wife, Catherine Jarvis, on the phone.
He said both his son and wife were "vigilant" and came to visit every day -- except that one day.
" That particular evening my son called the hospital and asked how I was doing," he said. "And the nurse said, 'would you like to talk to him?'" His family was overjoyed and stunned.
Gary Jarvis then had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator -- a battery- powered device placed under the skin to keep track of one's heart rate -- implanted before being transferred to Apple Rehab in Colchester.
He said he went to rehab for two weeks since he had difficulty walking, and the rehab center helped get him back on his feet again.
When he went home to his family, Gary Jarvis was touched by what his son did.
" He not only saved my life, but he took the Family Leave Act (Family and Medical Leave Act) and he didn't leave my side from the time I got up until the time I went to bed," he said.
To this day, Gary Jarvis doesn't have all the details of what happened and will never know how long he lay lifeless in his driveway.
He said he's "very fortunate" and he's able to do almost everything that he wants to do.
While he goes to see his cardiologist twice a year, as well as regular visits with his primarycare doctor, he knows he is lucky to be alive.
He still enjoys planting a garden -- as long as the soil is tilled -- growing Christmas trees and taking singing lessons.
And now he tries to take it a little bit easier.
"My son is my hero," Gary Jarvis said.
Copyright 2016 - The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
