A BRICKIE who saved a woman’s life by using CPR after she collapsed in front of him in a bottle shop will carry the Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton through Cleveland on March 31.
Adrian Rowe spent 16 minutes trying to resuscitate Imogen Donaghy in July 2016, before five paramedics continued treating her for a further 29 minutes. Ms Donaghy was resuscitated 11 times.
Her mother Genevieve Wright nominated Mr Rowe in appreciation for saving her daughter’s life.
Twenty-seven-year-old Imogen said her mother had struggled to limit her reason for nominating Mr Rowe to the required 100 words.
“My mum wanted to write 1000 words on him,” Ms Donaghy said.
“How many people can you say have saved someone’s life?”
Mr Rowe got an email saying he was nominated but his name was not on the baton bearer’s list when it was released.
“Then out of the blue I got a call asking if I was able to run on March 31,” he said.
“I almost didn’t answer because the call came from a private number and I was laying bricks behind my back when the call came through.”
Mr Rowe will carry the baton from the Cleveland train station leaving at 9.55am and run towards Middle Street.
Mr Rowe was chatting to Ms Donaghy in the Cleveland bottle shop where she worked when she went into cardiac arrest. Just two days prior he had done a refresher cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course.
Ms Donaghy was taken to hospital in a critical condition and spent days in intensive care.
Medical tests later found she has a rare heart condition. She also suffered from blood clots in her arms and her ribs and sternum were broken while she was being resuscitated.
Ms Donaghy said she was back at work but she still had appointments to monitor her condition and the defibrillator that was inserted to shock her if her heart fails again.
The Redlands leg of the Queen’s Baton relay starts at Cleveland Lighthouse Reserve and heads to Raby Bay Harbour Park, where there will be a free community celebration from 8.30am to 12.30pm.
Redlander and television personality Lincoln Lewis and Olympic Gold medallist and beach volleyball star Natalie Cook will be masters of ceremony at the event.
The baton will then continue to Waterloo Street before it leaves the Redlands.
The Queen’s Baton will arrive on the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony on April 4.
