Latest news with #SabatoBorrelli
CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Family in tears after Good Samaritans who saved father's life visit hospital
The Borrelli family is eternally thankful after three Good Samaritans saved 87-year-old Sabato after he collapsed in Jarry Park. Gloria Borrelli and other members of her family broke down in tears when the Good Samaritans who saved her father's life showed up at the hospital. 'They just wanted to see my dad,' she said. 'It was so nice. They brought us flowers.' Gloria's father, Sabato Borrelli, collapsed in Jarry Park on May 15, when a trio of Good Samaritans came to his rescue. Three people found the 87-year-old around 20 minutes after he collapsed and performed CPR on the man until emergency services arrived. Mikhael Esterez and a woman who preferred to remain anonymous were helped by another stranger to keep Sabato alive. Gloria told CTV News that she met Esterez and the woman, but still does not know the identity of the third person. Esterez's father, she said, was a doctor and taught the entire family CPR and the woman went to med school and knew what to do. 'It was the right people that know what they're doing,' said Gloria, who said that the two typically head to daycare at 5 p.m. nearby but decided to go at 3 p.m. Gloria Borrelli and Vanessa Caporicci Gloria Borrelli and Vanessa Caporicci will be learning CPR in the coming months after Gloria's 87-year-old father was saved by Good Samaritans after he collapsed. (Christine Long/CTV News) After the event, the family was desperate to find the people who saved Sabato, as, if not for their performing CPR on him for 20 minutes, he would have died. 'I still get chills when I say that because if that had not been done, he was a goner,' said Gloria. Sabato regained consciousness on May 17, also his 87th birthday. He remains in the hospital recovering. Sabato Borrelli Sabato Borrelli was an active 86-year-old man before he collapsed in Jarry Park days before his birthday and was saved by Good Samaritans who stopped to give him CPR. (Gloria Borrelli) Gloria said that she will arrange CPR training for the entire family in the coming months, as the family has become fully aware of its importance. 'You can literally save a life if you have the bare minimum of training in terms of how to provide basic cardiac life support,' said Dr. Christopher Labos. 'I think it's something we should be teaching everyone. I think we should be teaching it to kids in school. I think we should be training people how to use defibrillators, cause that makes a difference as well.'
CBC
4 days ago
- General
- CBC
The moment family meets Good Samaritans who helped save their loved one's life
When 87-year-old Sabato Borrelli went into cardiac arrest May 15, a group of strangers stepped in to help. After reading about Borrelli's recovery, one of them reached out to CBC.
CBC
4 days ago
- General
- CBC
Montreal family meets Good Samaritans who delivered life-saving CPR to 87-year-old man
When 87-year-old Sabato Borrelli went into cardiac arrest May 15, a group of strangers stepped in to help. After reading about Borrelli's recovery, one of them reached out to CBC. Gloria Borrelli and her mother Francesca choked back tears as they took turns hugging and kissing Mikhael Esterez on the cheek, repeating the words "thank you" over and over again outside Montreal's Sacré-Coeur hospital. After more than a week of searching for the Good Samaritans who delivered life-saving CPR to Gloria's dad, 87-year-old Sabato Borrelli, the mother and daughter finally met Esterez and another woman who played a key role that day, but who wanted to keep her identity private. Borrelli had collapsed after going into cardiac arrest while out on his daily walk on May 15 near Jarry Park. "You guys are superheroes for us," Gloria told them. On Monday, the two strangers met Borrelli inside his hospital room where he continues to recover from the ordeal. He managed to wave and say thank you "many times," he said. Esterez reached out to CBC after reading about Borrelli 's recovery and the family's search for the Good Samaritan who saved him. But he insisted CBC also find the woman at the scene who was the first to call 911 and begin compressions that day. "I'm super happy that they have more time with somebody that's important to them," he said. "We all have people we care for and sometimes we kind of wish we could have more time with them." Mikhael Esterez, left, met Sabato Borrelli's granddaughter, Vanessa Caporicci, right, among some of his other family members Monday. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC) Borrelli turned 87 the day he awoke at the hospital on May 17. Coincidentally, that same day, Esterez turned 35, wondering what had become of the man he helped a couple days prior. He had pulled into the parking lot of his daughter's daycare around 3 p.m. when he saw Borrelli lying on the ground, a woman on the phone near him. The 911 operator asked if there were any defibrillators nearby. Esterez went into the daycare hoping to find one but there was none. By that point, the woman had already started giving Borrelli chest compressions to the pace set by the 911 operator over the phone. Feeling some strain in her wrists, she let Esterez take over after a few minutes. "He has these very intense blue eyes and I remember looking down on him while doing the compressions and he was staring at me so I really hoped I would see him like I did today, alive with life in his eyes because I feared they would kind of haunt me for a little while," he said. Francesca Borrelli said the young age of the two people that helped save her husband's life touched her and she felt grateful for them. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC) Esterez kept going until a first paramedic arrived in an SUV equipped with a defibrillator at 3:15 p.m., according to Urgences-santé's log. The paramedic shocked Borrelli and asked a second unidentified man to take over chest compressions for a bit, said Esterez. Five minutes later, at 3:20 p.m., the ambulance arrived and Borrelli was rushed to hospital. "You're just left there and you don't know if you did good or if the person is still alive," said Esterez. Urgences-santé spokesperson Jean-Pierre Rouleau says they were receiving a high volume of calls that day, which is why the ambulance took as long as it did. The original dispatch was received at 3:02 p.m. Over the last 30 days, Urgences-santé's ambulances have arrived at the scene of a high-priority call within 8 minutes and 50 seconds, says Rouleau. "There's days, unfortunately, when the demand exceeds supply and, well, it's more difficult to respond as quickly as we would like," he said. "We would always like to have more resources but it's linked to budgets." Esterez noted that 18 minutes was a long time, thinking that traffic had something to do with the delay. For him, the lessons of that day are pretty clear: "People should learn CPR and get out of the way [for] the ambulance," he said.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
A stranger delivered CPR for 20 minutes to a Montreal man. His family wants to meet them
'Our family was given a second chance,' says daughter-in-law A Montreal family is looking for the Good Samaritan who saved octogenarian Sabato Borrelli's life after he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest while out on his daily walk, out of his home in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough. Doctors told the family a stranger performed CPR on Borrelli for about 20 minutes before paramedics arrived and took over. Sabato's daughter, Gloria Borelli, believes her father was likely near Jarry Park when the incident happened around 3 p.m. on May 15, but has been unable to confirm the exact location as of yet. Gloria says she wants to meet the person who gave her more time with her father. "This gentleman, or woman or child — I don't know who saved my father," she said. "All they wanted was this person to have a chance and he was given that chance." Borrelli celebrated his 87th birthday while recovering at the hospital over the weekend. For Lucy Orfeo, his awakening at the hospital after being sedated was particularly emotional. She lost her daughter — Borrelli's granddaughter — Martina Borrelli, almost three years ago at just barely 20-years-old. "My daughter wasn't able to be saved," said Orfeo. After complaining about a headache, Martina suffered from a sudden brain haemorrhage, lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. Despite being in an ambulance when it happened, she died shortly after. Orfeo said the Good Samaritan's actions on May 15 feel like a tribute to Martina who was known for her kindness. "'If you're kind you can change the world,' that's what she would say. That was her thing, so it's kind of like what's fuelling me," said Orfeo about her search for the person who saved Borrelli. "Our family was given a second chance." Every minute counts, says physician Emergency physician Dr. François de Champlain says that most people will witness a cardiac arrest in their lifetime. There are 10,000 incidents that happen outside of hospitals every year in Quebec, he says. With every minute that passes following the start of a cardiac arrest, the person's chance for survival decreases by 10 per cent, he says, adding that the average Quebec ambulance arrives at any given scene in 13 minutes. "So the math is pretty simple. If the citizen as a Good Samaritan doesn't act right now before the first responder and the ambulance comes in, the chance of survival is essentially zero." De Champlain says that if a person is non-responsive and has laboured breath then whoever is nearby should assume they're going into cardiac arrest, call 911, and begin chest compressions. That looks like pressing with locked elbows, two inches into the centre of a person's chest, between the nipple line, to the beat of "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees — or about 100 to 120 beats per minute. "Without doing this in the first few minutes, unfortunately it's game over and it happens too often." The 911 operator can even walk the caller through CPR manoeuvres and direct them to the nearest defibrillator if a second person is available to get it. People can locate defibrillators, and also register them, using an app developed by the Jacques de Champlain Foundation, of which de Champlain is the president, called AED - Quebec. "Right now the registration of those devices is non mandatory and that's why for the past 10 years the foundation has been lobbying for this to become legislation in Quebec," he said. For Borrelli's part, his family says he's making good progress at the hospital. Gloria describes him as an active man who can't sit still, who tends to his garden, makes his own wine, and maintains bocce ball courts during the summer. "We're not done with Mr. Borrelli," she said.
CBC
20-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
They're looking for the Good Samaritan who saved their loved one's life by performing CPR
Sabato Borrelli was out on his daily walk on May 15 when he went into cardiac arrest. A stranger gave him CPR for 20 minutes before paramedics took over, doctors told the family.
