Lorry driver saved in the nick of time

Second chance: Koay talking with Dr Luah (third from right), Lim (second from right) and other rescuers at Taman Free School in Penang.

GEORGE TOWN: Lorry driver Koay Ah Hock was driving his heavy vehicle on Oct 30 when he had a heart attack and lost consciousness.

His lorry came to a stop when it hit a traffic light post at Reservoir Garden in Ayer Itam.

The 69-year-old would have died if not for Lim Teik Aun, a certified cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) user, who was only about 300m away that day.

Yesterday, Koay met his rescuers during the Penang Community Policing Charity Team gathering at Taman Free School.

“I am so grateful to them. I could have died, ” said Koay, who underwent a bypass at Penang Hospital two weeks ago.

He said he was also managing other health problems, including diabetes, hypertension and kidney ailments.

Recalling the incident, Lim, 48, said he got the help of passers-by to place Koay in a comfortable position and performed CPR on him.

He then got one of Koay’s friends to call Community Policing Malaysia at the Ayer Itam Penang Charity team’s office to bring the AED to him.

“There was a 30-minute window for me to save Koay’s life and I continued CPR until the AED arrived from our office in Jalan Free School.

“Seven of us worked together and used the AED to resuscitate Koay.

“We have about 200 members who are trained in CPR and AED but the real test is when we are called upon to save someone’s life, ” said Lim, who is Penang Community Policing Malaysia chairman.

Penang Heart Save Society president Datuk Dr Luah Lean Wah said the time when CPR and AED could be administered to someone with sudden cardiac arrest made a lot of difference.

“Koay was lucky as the first four ‘golden’ minutes is important to start CPR or the brain cells would start dying, ” Dr Luah added.