Nurse Saves Friend's Life With CPR During Workout in Saanich

A mother of three was running sprints with friends outside a fitness center when her heart suddenly stopped beating.

Skye Maynard felt breathless during the high-intensity workout in Saanich, British Columbia, on September 14, 2024. Her peripheral vision started fading. Then she collapsed on the street, had a seizure, and went into cardiac arrest.

Her friend Lara Kesteloo, a former emergency room nurse, immediately took charge. She directed others to call 911, cleared a safe zone around Maynard, and started performing CPR while answering questions from concerned onlookers and the 911 operator.

Kesteloo's quick thinking bought precious time. For every minute a cardiac arrest patient goes without CPR, their chance of survival drops by 10 percent. More than 60,000 Canadians experience cardiac arrest outside hospitals each year.

When paramedics arrived, one shock from their automated external defibrillator brought Maynard's heart back into rhythm. She woke up in the hospital with no memory of collapsing. Doctors never discovered what caused her heart to stop, despite her being healthy and having done the same workout many times before.

Why This Inspires

Kesteloo received a commendation letter and challenge coin from B.C. Emergency Health Services this week for her swift actions. Paramedic Noel Morton, who presented the award, said she did everything right.

But the experience was far harder than Kesteloo expected. Unlike hospital emergencies where she had a full team and resources, she faced constant self-doubt in the moment. "You're fighting those thoughts of 'what if?'" she said.

The paramedics who responded helped connect her with mental health resources afterward. She took time off work and worked through the trauma in counseling. It took several days for her nerves to settle.

Both women work as care managers at Veterans Memorial Lodge. Their executive director Janet Power said they save lives regularly through their work. "To save each other is just amazing," she said.

Maynard calls Kesteloo her lifesaver and is grateful she never gave up. "I'm super proud of her. She's a very selfless person all around."

The incident happened just one block from B.C. Emergency Health Services headquarters, putting help nearby. But Maynard, who is also trained in CPR, never imagined she would be the one needing it. She now encourages everyone to learn the skill that saved her life.