Anastasia and her son Felix are the best kind of shockers

Anastasia Georgiou sat alone in her car on a cold, dreary Tuesday evening at Timbrell Park in Sydney’s west. She had opted to stay in the warmth having just dropped her youngest son, Felix, at his under 13s soccer training. For the dental specialist and mother of three, it had been a long day, but she wanted to use this rare moment of down time to call a friend going through a rough time.

Halfway through training, with Anastasia deep in conversation, Felix suddenly appeared through the gloom at the car window. “Mum, they’re asking for help,” he said. Anastasia noted the urgency in her son’s voice. She didn’t hesitate to follow him to an adjacent oval where a group of men had been playing a social game of soccer.

Now though, the men were gathered around one of their teammates lying unconscious on the ground. They hadn’t seen him collapse, and as it was just a casual soccer match, nobody even knew his name. Despite a lot of unknowns, Anastasia jumped into action.

“Someone was on the phone to Triple Zero,” recalls Anastasia. “I immediately kneeled and started asking him if he could hear me and if he could squeeze my hand. But it was quickly clear that he wasn’t responding at all.”

The Triple Zero operator proceed to give instructions to Anastasia and a teammate over the phone. They started CPR, taking turns so they didn’t get tired too quickly. CPR helps to keep blood and oxygen circulating to the brain until the heart can be restarted.

At the same time, another soccer player had found a publicly accessible automated external defibrillator (AED). An AED is a portable electronic device that can detect life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms which can cause a cardiac arrest. An AED can help treat these abnormal heart rhythms by giving an electric shock to the heart. They’re easy to use and talk you through the steps you need to take – you don’t need any special training to use one.

The moment I saw the AED, I felt the biggest sense of relief. I heard the machine’s voice talk me through what I needed to do and suddenly I felt back in control.

Anastasia Georgiou

Cardiac arrest responder

“The moment I saw the AED, I felt the biggest sense of relief,” says Anastasia. “I heard the machine’s voice talk me through what I needed to do and suddenly I felt back in control.”

By the time the AED had delivered two shocks to the man, the ambulance had arrived to transport him to hospital. To this day, Anastasia doesn’t know his name, but she does know that he survived.

Even now, months after her experience, she still remembers the intense feeling of relief when she saw the AED arrive at the scene.

“I was very happy to help by giving CPR but there was an element of fear about starting chest compressions, and uncertainty if I was doing it right,” says Anastasia.

Anastasia is quick to highlight the crucial role that Felix played in saving the unknown man’s life, by alerting her to the unfolding medical emergency. “Kids are so acutely aware of helping others and that community spirit,” says Anastasia.

Now having first-hand knowledge of these life-saving devices, Anastasia is a big advocate of AEDs – educating people about knowing where they are located and how easy they are to use. “There’s no need to feel anxious or scared as the device is so self-explanatory,” she says. “It will do everything for you, it just needs you to be the link to the person having a cardiac arrest.”

During a cardiac arrest, an AED makes delivering a life-saving shock simple. Just turn it on and follow the prompts. It’s shockingly simple.