A Shawinigan woman was decorated with the medal of bravery for having saved the life of a 68-year-old stranger while waiting for the arrival of first aid in front of his house.
Cristelle Sénécal-Ayotte received the medal of bravery for a gesture of immense courage. On October 13, Cristelle opened the door of her residence to the spouse of Jean-Paul Roy, who was having a heart attack nearby. Armed with all her composure, the mother of the family rescued the cyclist.
She preformed resuscitation maneuvers on the sexagenarian for about ten minutes, before the arrival of the paramedics. A few weeks later, Jean-Paul left the hospital without any sequelae.
“He is back at work, in his same tasks. He appreciates it so much and he has so much energy, it’s surprising,” exclaimed his spouse, Marguerite Fréchette.
To congratulate her and highlight her action, Minister Jean Boulet presented the Medal of Bravery to Cristelle, on behalf of the Premier and all his colleagues in the National Assembly.
“It’s very, very moving. I hold back a lot so as not to burst into tears, commented Cristelle. It means a lot to me, it’s a reminder of what I did for Jean-Paul,” she added.
The Shawinigan woman credits some of the credit to her mother, who introduced her to CPR when she was 16. It was also a combination of circumstances that Cristelle was able to save Jean-Paul’s life because she wasn’t supposed to be home at that time.
Cristelle’s three boys, who were present at the time of the event, were entitled to a very special thank you. They each received their own medal, to highlight their courage and calm during the intervention.
“Maybe I would have panicked a little more because I really didn’t give myself the right to panic because they were there. If I panicked in the slightest, I could no longer help Jean-Paul,” confided the mother of the family.
“To realize that people make gestures of this nature, it warms our hearts,” assured Minister Jean Boulet.
Four months later, Jean-Paul, his spouse and Cristelle are united by a very tight bond. Shawinigan’s wife had a major impact on their lives.
“He is very, very strong and he will remain strong until the end of our days,” said Cristelle.
“It changed the course of my life and it allowed my Jean-Paul to live,” said his wife. His first words after the paramedics left with my husband were I hope you stay in our lives. I said, I can’t do otherwise, that’s for sure!