Driver Saves Man Changing Her Tyre

A good samaritan who was stopping to help two women change a flat tyre was saved by one of the women when he started to have a heart attack. Canadian Victor Giesbrecht, a 61-year-old from Winnepeg, had the attack after he and his wife, Ann, stopped to help Sara Berg and her cousin, Lisa Meier, with the flat tire. Ann was able to get their pickup truck stopped and flag down the women.

Luckily for him, Berg is a certified nursing assistant and jumped out of her car to give him CPR on the side of Interstate 94 in western Wisconsin. In the meantime, Meier called emergency services, and when a state trooper and two Dunn County officers arrived, they took over with an external defibrillator to help get his pulse and breathing back. Soon, a medical helicopter arrived to transport Giesbrecht to Mayo Clinic Health System, where he was in serious condition on Monday.

After Berg and Meier were forced to pull onto the shoulder of Interstate 94 with the flat tyre, Meier called her husband, who was on his way to help. Berg says that they were so grateful that someone stopped to help them, as no one really ever stops to offer assistance nowadays. It’s kind of scary sometimes, as you don’t really know what could happen. She recalled Giesbrecht saying that someone ‘above had put him in the right place at the right time’, as the couple was saying goodbye.

In an interview, Ann shared her side of the events. She said that her husband told her something was wrong about 15 minutes after they had gotten back on the road. She helped him steer the truck onto the shoulder just in time for him to black out after a cardiac arrest. She called 911 and then jumped out of the passenger side to wave for someone to stop. Berg did and performed CPR on Giesbrecht while Meier talked to the 911 operator to describe where they were.

Ann says she did the best that she could while under pressure and having to think fast. She believes it was a good idea for them to stop and help the women, as they were helped in return. It was a miracle how everything worked out…like piecing a puzzle together.

According to Patrol Sergeant Michael Newton, Giesbrecht’s life may not have been saved if he hadn’t decided to stopped to help the women. He would have been a few more miles down the road instead. This is an interesting twist of fate. The man had suffered a heart attack about one year before the incident, the officer added. Dr Regis Fernandes at the clinic says that they know for sure that the CPR Berg did raised Giesbrecht’s chances of surviving.