David Oliver got the chance Thursday to thank members of the Victoria Fire Department who performed one of their toughest-ever rescues in order to save his life.
Oliver, a 68-year-old bell ringer at Christ Church Cathedral, was teaching a young bell ringer, Ashley Fernandes, the ropes on Feb. 25 when he suffered arrhythmia and fell unconscious.
“I don’t remember much after I passed out,” said Oliver, speaking on the steps of the church.
Fernandes said he feared Oliver was having an epileptic fit, “but his body was becoming stiff as he was about to fall off the chair and I thought it was something more than that.”
Fernandes called 911 and was told if Oliver was unconscious to start chest compressions.
“I was about to do that and that’s when he came back to consciousness,” Fernandes said.
Ambulance paramedics and Victoria firefighters were dispatched and Fernandes ran down the 71 steps of the circular staircase to let them in.
“I knew every minute that ticked by is a concern,” Fernandes said.
Paramedics and firefighters rushed up the stairs and worked to stabilize Oliver.
The firefighters loaded him into a plastic carrier and began lowering him down the steep spiralling stairs, which are barely wide enough for an average-sized man to pass through.
“It’s extraordinarily narrow in those stairs,” said acting battalion chief Peter Stephenson.
“We do a lot of high-rescue training and there was a lot of skill on display that night.”
Stephenson said it was fantastic to see Oliver had recovered.
Firefighter Brad Fair was in control of the rope rescue.
“He was in quite a bit of medical distress when we got there,” Fair said.
“It was quite a process to get him out once the ambulance came. He was pretty much vertical coming down the stairs. It worked out in the end.”
Oliver has fully recovered and has an implanted cardio defibrillator to help prevent irregular heart rhythms.
He was able to thank all the firefighters involved on Thursday and give them a tour of the bell tower, including a demonstration on bell ringing.
There are 10 bells at the cathedral, some weighing a tonne, which are rung by bell ringers pulling on ropes.
