Good Samaritan Pays it Forward; Saved Along Wisconsin Highway

Nov. 08--Victor Giesbrecht helped Sara Berg fix a flat tire Saturday and, in turn, Berg helped save the Canadian man's life moments later when he had a heart attack.

Returning to Eau Claire from Boyceville on Saturday, Berg and her cousin Lisa Meier got a flat tire on Interstate 94 in Dunn County. Before the women could try to change the tire, Giesbrecht and his wife, Ann, pulled over and offered to help.

When the 61-year-old Giesbrecht finished changing the tire, Berg thanked him, and he told her, "Someone put me in the right place at the right time," she recalled Monday.

After being thanked again, the Giesbrechts, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, pulled their truck back onto eastbound I-94. Berg and Meier, both of Eau Claire, followed shortly thereafter, talking about how nice it was for the couple to stop and help them.

Just down the road, the women saw that the Giesbrechts had pulled onto the shoulder. Initially, Berg thought maybe they were waiting to make sure she and her cousin were back on the road. She passed their truck, pulled over and saw Ann Giesbrecht waving her arms.

After the Giesbrechts had gotten back onto I-94, Victor Giesbrecht told his wife he needed help, and she helped him bring their vehicle to a stop and then dialed 911, said Sgt. Michael Newton of the State Patrol.

Berg, 40, found Giesbrecht unconscious and not breathing, so she jumped into his truck and began performing CPR. Fortunately, Berg is a Mayo Clinic Health System Home Health & Hospice employee trained in CPR.

Team effort

The Dunn County Sheriff's Department received a call at about 6 p.m. of a person possibly having a heart attack in a vehicle at mile marker 50 between Menomonie and Eau Claire.

Hearing the call, State Trooper Kate Sampson, who works Dunn County, responded. Sampson -- the first officer to arrive -- found Giesbrecht still unresponsive, so she climbed into the truck to help Berg perform CPR.

Less than two minutes later, Dunn County sheriff's deputy Scott Pace and reserve deputy Michael Sinclair arrived with an automated external defibrillator, or AED, Sampson said. The portable electronic devices are used to try to restore normal heart rhythm to patients in cardiac arrest.

Sampson and Sinclair pulled Giesbrecht out of the passenger side of his vehicle and laid him on the shoulder of the road while Pace set up the AED, the trooper said. The machine indicated a shock was necessary. After the device delivered three separate shocks, Sampson felt a pulse, and Giesbrecht began breathing.

Giesbrecht was airlifted to Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire by the Mayo One helicopter, which landed on the interstate. Giesbrecht was in serious but stable condition Monday morning, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

"The key here is he got help right away," said Newton, highlighting Berg's quick action to perform CPR, the arrival of the deputies with the defibrillator, and the Mayo One helicopter with its medical personnel.

Ann Giesbrecht said she and her family will be forever in the debt of Meier and Berg, who she spoke to Sunday night, telling her "she actually saved his life."

Victor Giesbrecht "always wants to stop" and help when he sees stranded motorists, his wife said. "He's the type of person who gives you 100 percent and worries about himself later."

Ann Giesbrecht thanked the staff at Mayo Clinic Health System, Sampson, the Dunn County deputies and the Mayo One flight crew.

"We've had such terrific care," she said. "People are so nice."

Sampson, a trooper for more than three years, shrugged off the praise.

"We just happened to be in the right place at the right time," she said.

Berg is thankful for her CPR training.

"These people did something kind for me," she said. "It was nice to be able to help them -- but I never expected they'd need that kind of help."

Life-saving device

Like Newton, she said it was beneficial the Dunn County deputies had an AED with them.