Prolific poet and novelist George Bowering is happy to be alive.

“I really am,” he says, sitting in the living room of his Point Grey home. “There was a time when it wasn’t looking so good.”

Two years ago, Bowering was out with Mickey, his very shy two-year-old Bernese, dropping off books at the local library, when he suffered cardiac arrest, collapsing in front of a bus stop. Thanks to the quick thinking of a bystander who started CPR, and 14-year-old student Ivy Zhang who called 911 without hesitation, library staff, and the fact that the fire hall is just around the corner, George was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) where a team of nurses and doctors was waiting for him, led by cardiologist Dr. Parvathy Nair.

The nurses and doctors worked hard, keeping the writer alive, employing a cooling machine that brought his body temperature down to 33 degrees Celsius, to “save the brain.” The cooling machine was purchased with a generous donation to VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.

“I credit the series of high-level care he received, the combination of all of it, that saved his life,” Dr. Nair says. “From the CPR done in front of the library to getting him to the cooling machine quickly, it worked in his favor.”

“I was unbelievably impressed by the team there,” says Jean Baird, Bowering’s partner of 14 years. “I was very impressed by the level of care, the attention to detail. We are very blessed to live here.”

“Yeah, they were wonderful – (VGH) is a remarkable place,” says Bowering, jumping in.

“We’re especially grateful for the person who bought that cooling machine,” adds Baird

Bowering temporarily lost the use of motor skills, but with the help of his wife, he was surprisingly back to doing his habitual New York Times crossword puzzles within a day after he was brought out of a 12-day induced coma.

“The Friday Times puzzle is usually tough,” reminds Baird.

The experience didn’t hinder him creatively. In the first 18 months after his cardiac arrest, the already prolific writer (he’s written over 100 books) published six books.

Dr. Nair say less than 50% of people survive cardiac arrest and have a meaningful recovery.

“He’s very lucky to be alive,” she says. “And he’s had an excellent recovery, better than average.”

While his work schedule has not been affected, Baird has noticed a slight change in his personality.

“He has always been a bit goopy about our marriage, but he’s much more goopy now,” she says laughing. “Yeah definitely…”

“Yeah, I guess I am,” the 81-year-old says, also laughing. “I don’t know why that is.”

So what was the first thing he wanted to do once he left VGH?

“I wanted to watch a baseball game on television. I wanted to watch the Red Sox,” he says.

He pauses.

“And to get back at my desk in front of my computer…to get writing again.”

What do you know about cardiac arrests?

• There are approximately 40,000 cardiac arrests in Canada each year.
• Up to 85% of cardiac arrests occur in public places or at home.
• Coronary artery disease will take a Canadian’s life every seven minutes.
• Cardiac rhythm disorders (arrhythmias) remain a major cause of sickness and death in BC.
• Inherited heart rhythms and cardiac disorders affect an estimated 7,000 British Columbians.
• Less than one in 10 people are estimated to survive a cardiac arrest that happens outside of a hospital.

Donate now to help patients like George on their journey to recovery.

[:zh]多产诗人及小说家George Bowering因还能活着深感高兴。

“有一段时间我的情況很不樂觀，” 這年屆81岁的老人家坐在温哥华家里的客厅侃侃而談。

两年前，George 带同他害羞的两岁伯尔尼小狗Mickey一起到图书馆还书，但卻因心脏骤停，在公共汽车站前昏倒過去。 感谢一位路過者立即为George进行了心肺复苏，14岁的学生Ivy Zhang亦即时电召了911，甚至图书馆以及在拐角的消防厅工作人员也出来帮忙，George最终被送至温哥华综合医院 （VGH），由心脏科專家Parvathy Nair带领的一组專業醫療团队已在医院等后。

医護人員先使用冷却机为George进行搶救，嘗試将他的体温降至摄氏33度以 “保护大脑”。這台冷却机是由医院基金会的慷慨善長捐助的。

“我相信是因为一連串的專業护理，拯救了他的生命，” Nair医生说。 “从在图书馆前进行的心肺复苏，到迅速降温的冷却机，都在关键时刻起了作用

在昏迷的12天裏， George暂时失去了活动能力，但甦醒後在妻子的助下，他惊人的康复速度令他又能开始玩至愛的填字游戏  。

“我对VGH的医疗团队印象深刻，”George的14年伙伴Jean Baird说。 “我们特别感谢那位捐赠冷却机的善長。”

Nair医生指出，经历过心脏骤停的病患當中只有不到五成的人可以复原。“很幸运他还能活着。”她说。“而且他的复原得很好，比平均水平還要高。”

这个经历并没有阻碍George的创作。在他病發前的18个月，他出版了六本书。当被问到他离开VGH时他最想做什么，他认真回答想看电视的Red Sox 球賽…“以及回到办公桌再次写作。”

帮助像George一样的心脏病患者。 今天就捐助我们的心脏及肺部基金吧！

你了解心脏骤停吗？

• 每年在加拿大有约40,000個心脏骤停個案。
• 高达85％的心脏骤停個案发生在公共场所或家中。
• 在加拿大，每七分钟便有一人死于冠状动脉疾病
• 心脏节律紊乱（心律失常）仍是引致卑詩省居民生病和死亡的主因。
• 遗传性的心律和心脏疾病约影响着7,000名卑詩省省民。
• 据估计，在医院外发生的心脏骤停個案不到十分一。