Off-duty ICU staff in S’pore saves locksmith who suddenly went into cardiac arrest, performs CPR for 14 minutes – Mothership.SG

Francis Leon was puzzled at first when the locksmith he hired to unlock a door in his apartment suddenly lay down on the floor.

Francis thought the locksmith might have wanted to take a short rest, then he realised that something was wrong.

The locksmith had gone into cardiac arrest.

Fortunately, Francis was an intensive care unit (ICU) respiratory therapist at a hospital, he said in his TikTok video of the incident.

After calling the police, who helped to call for an ambulance, Francis performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the locksmith for about 14 minutes while waiting for help.

In response to Mothership‘s queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they received a call for assistance at 1 Park Road, the location of People’s Park Complex, at about 6:20pm on Nov. 27.

The man was conveyed to Singapore General Hospital.

No warning

The locksmith’s collapse came completely out of the blue for Francis.

“Even as he started working on unlocking my door, he was alert, energetic, and showed no signs of discomfort or illness,” he told Mothership.

In a second TikTok video sharing the CCTV footage of the incident, the locksmith can be seen crouching on the floor as he worked to unlock the door of a room.

Shortly, he leaned his head forward against the door, then collapsed sideways onto the floor.

When he realised something was wrong, Francis initially tried to call an ambulance but dialled the wrong number, he called the police instead, in a panic. The police then contacted SCDF.

At that time, the locksmith still appeared conscious and was looking at Francis, so Francis asked if he was all right.

“When he didn’t respond, I suspected a stroke — he seemed awake but couldn’t speak,” Francis told Mothership.

Instinct

After he called the police for help, Francis noticed that the locksmith was completely unresponsive and not breathing.

“My ICU training kicked in and I recognised immediately that he was in cardiac arrest,” Francis said.

He decided to perform CPR on the man.

One of his housemates woke up when he shouted for help, and he asked her to look for an automated external defibrillator (AED) in the building while he continued doing CPR.

The housemate assisted him briefly for about a minute towards the end, until the SCDF arrived.

The man ultimately regained his pulse and was carried out of the apartment by the SCDF on a stretcher.

Overwhelming but fulfilling

Francis has been working in the ICU for about seven years now, he said in his video.

Still, he described the incident as an experience that was “totally new” to him, and was “exhausted” after performing CPR.

“In a hospital, especially in the ICU, everything is controlled and well-equipped,” he explained.

There would typically be a response team to help with the CPR.

Besides the person performing chest compressions, there would be people monitoring the patient’s airway and administering medication, and defibrillators available if necessary.

In this case, Francis performed CPR largely on his own and without any equipment.

He felt overwhelmed in the moment, afraid that he might be blamed if anything went wrong, as no one else witnessed the man’s collapse.

“Despite all that, I had no choice but to set my worries aside,” he said. “In that moment, I was the only one who could help him. His life depended on me acting quickly.”

In the end, it was an “incredibly fulfilling” experience.

“I save lives in the hospital regularly, but experiencing this outside of work made me feel even more connected to my profession,” he added.

“It reminded me how meaningful my job is. I felt proud that I was able to make a real difference and save someone’s life using only my skills and instinct.”

Many saw the heroism of his actions, commenting on his video to praise his quick thinking and call him a lifesaver.

When Francis saw the locksmith in his hospital ward on Dec. 1, he looked well and no longer needed the breathing tube.

“I am glad he survived,” Francis said.

Top images from leonranzyyogi/TikTok