Gym user saved after heart stops

Strini Naidoo (left) ripped down a door and used a defibrillator to kick-start Owen Munro's heart. Photo / Brett Phibbs

There is no doubt in Owen Munro's mind - if it wasn't for the defibrillator and well-trained staff at his local gym, he would not be here today.

Early this year, the retiree, who was then 69, had just finished his workout at the North Shore YMCA and was about to change when his heart stopped beating.

"I had no feeling of discomfort, I just switched off, apparently," he said yesterday.

Mr Munro, who has been going to the gym twice a week for the past 10 years, said the last thing he remembered was going into a toilet cubicle.

"I was going to get changed and literally I fell inside a cubicle," he said.

"I had no notion. I didn't feel unwell at all. I went to the gym and the next thing I knew, I had been several days in hospital."

Fitness business manager Strini Naidoo was one of the first on the scene and played a key role in saving Mr Munro's life when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest - something that is different from a heart attack, which he had suffered 18 years ago and is the reason he goes to the gym.

"Some of the members made a noise that somebody had fallen in the changing room. We all rushed in ... and I saw his head popping through the [bottom] of the toilet door. I jumped over the cubicle, ripped the door out and pulled him out," said Mr Naidoo.

"He was just lying there; no movement, and his heartbeat was almost faint to nothing - it was really in a stressed state."

While juggling calls to St John, Mr Naidoo and his staff performed CPR and used the defibrillator - bought thanks to a Lion Foundation grant last year - to jolt his heart twice.

St John staff arrived soon after and took Mr Munro to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

He underwent a triple bypass and has a device in his chest so if the same thing happens again it will jump-start his heart.

On the day of the drama, the ambulance driver later returned to the YMCA to compliment Mr Naidoo on doing such a good job.

His actions helped save Mr Munro's life- although he plays down his role.

"You just act to the best of your instinct and that's what happened," Mr Naidoo said.

"I don't want people to make a big deal out of it; it's all in a day's work. I think anyone would do it.

"It doesn't make me feel proud, it doesn't make me feel excited, I'm just happy for him to be alive."