Dana Clarke is a City of Ottawa employee who is being credited with saving another life by using a public access defibrillator.
Clarke was at the Earl Armstrong arena on Tuesday afternoon when a hockey player collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.
Paramedics say the man's heart had stopped beating. Clarke asked a colleague to call 911 and used a public access defibrillator to revive the man. Paramedics say the player, believed to be in his 50s, was conscious and responsive when they arrived. He was later listed in serious but stable condition in hospital.
"I could see that his eyes came to life, he started to move, he started to breathe," Clarke said. "I knew that at that moment if we could hold on and he could hold on, we could get him back and we did."
It is not the first time Clarke has successfully used a defibrillator at that arena. Back in 2009, he was credited with saving the life of another man who had gone into cardiac arrest. In an odd coincidence, the two hockey players Clarke helped are actually teammates.
Clarke said he is thankful for the training he received from the city of Ottawa that enabled him to use the defibrillator successfully both times.
"They enable us to save lives and these machines are unbelievable," he said. "It happened again and it worked again and I'm really thankful."
