Eddie Gudopp had a cardiac arrest 15 years ago, stopped breathing for 10 minutes and was nearly written off as dead, save for one last blast with the defibrillator paddles.
“Welcome to the 1% Club.”
Eddie Gudopp will never forget those words from a doctor after his heart stopped and he did not breathe for eight minutes.
It has been 15 years since Gudopp, 81, suffered a cardiac arrest while hosting a business seminar in Tauranga.
He was saved bystrangers, but he has never been able to personally thank those who brought him back from the brink.
He is telling his story now in the hope some of them may see it and learn what became of the man they saved.
Two men in the group began CPR right away and a woman started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“Two ambulances arrived, a couple of people in each. They gave me four or five shocks with the paddles, but they were still not working,” Gudopp said.
The ambulance officers were about to finish, having done as many shocks as they believed they could, when there was a push from the crowd for “just one more”, Gudopp said.
“Then I burst to life, sort of. They threw me in the back of the ambulance and carried me away.”
Once he arrived at Tauranga Hospital, Gudopp was put into an induced coma for three days.
Eddie Gudopp had a cardiac arrest 15 years ago, stopped breathing for 10 minutes and was nearly written off as dead, save for one last blast with the defibrillator paddles. Photo / Alex Cairns
During his stay, Bev and the Gudopps’ two adult children slept on the floor of the Critical Care Unit “because they didn’t think I would make it”, he said.
Medical records show Gudopp stopped breathing for eight minutes.
Eventually, he was moved into a regular ward and was greeted by a doctor waiting for him.
“He came over to my bed and put his hand out and said, ‘All of these medical staff and people around here were not expecting you to be here. The trip you’ve been on, you shouldn’t be here’.”
“‘Welcome to the 1% Club’.”
Perplexed, Gudopp asked the doctor what he meant. The doctor said: ‘Only 1 per cent of people make it back from where you’ve been’.
Unlike a heart attack, a cardiac arrest is a sudden and unexpected loss of heart function, breathing and consciousness.
The Gudopps have dedicated their lives to volunteering and helping others through church or community groups.
Eddie and Bev Gudopp make the most of each day by helping others. Photo / Alex Cairns
Gudopp said this must have been the reason he was saved — the ‘big guy upstairs’ wanted them to keep up their charitable work.
“The doctor said to me: ‘Very few people get a second chance at this, so don’t stuff it up’.”
Fifteen years later, Gudopp believes he hasn’t.
He and Bev spend their days doing what they can to help people in the community through programmes such as Christians Against Poverty.
“I don’t do ‘can’t’,” he said.
In total, Gudopp spent 10 to 12 weeks in hospital, having also suffered a concussion from hitting his head in the fall.
The only long-term effects from the event are short-term memory loss, a pacemaker, and the need to avoid alcohol and caffeine consumption which, for unclear reasons, “sends my brain to Uganda or something”, Gudopp said.
Bev said if it hadn’t been for the CPR, “he’d have been gone”.
Gudopp agreed.
“I was so lucky I had a group of people around me who hopped into action straight away. If you have a cardiac arrest walking down the street and there’s nobody there who knows what to do, it’s curtains for you.”
The Gudopps said they caught up with the men and woman who carried out the CPR and mouth-to-mouth, but due to privacy rules had not been able to personally thank the ambulance officers.
“It’s frustrating. I owe my life to those people, and I can’t say ‘thank you’ to them.”
Instead, the couple sends Christmas cards to the ambulance offices each year.
Gudopp wanted to share his story partly in the hope those ambulance officers read it, but also to serve as inspiration to others who have experienced cardiac arrest.
“It’s not the end of the road. You can get over it and can live a reasonable life. If I can, anybody can,” Eddie said.
“I plan on at least another 10 years of active life.”
A Hato Hone St John spokesman said the organisation was happy to look into identifying and tracking down the ambulance officers who helped save Eddie, but may take some digging given how long ago it happened.
St John was also asked about its privacy policy.
If you suspect someone is having a cardiac arrest:
After checking for danger, check for a response;
Send for help/call 111;
Check airways before breathing;
Start CPR with 30 chest compressions followed by two mouth-to-mouth breaths;
Continue CPR until a defibrillator becomes available or paramedics arrive.
Source - Heart Research Institute NZ.
Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.
