An incident on a Centre Wellington farm operation a year ago could have turned tragic if it weren’t for the quick actions of Fergus resident Peter Muysson and OPP officer Doug Kerr.
The two men were recognized for their efforts at the annual OPP awards ceremony on Nov. 20 in London, receiving the St. John’s Ambulance commissioner’s citation for life saving.
On Dec. 18, 2013, as Muysson and coworker Richard Gallaway were loading poultry onto a truck, Gallaway, in his mid-60s, suffered a major heart attack and collapsed.
Kerr said he received the dispatch at 4:36pm and arrived roughly five minutes later to find Muysson performing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
The two men then took turns performing CPR until fire and ambulance arrived and took over. Gallaway was transported to Groves hospital and later moved to Kitchener, where he remained in intensive care for over a month.
Despite the recognition and award, Kerr remains modest, saying he was just doing his job.
“If anything I didn’t want the award; I thought it should just go to [Peter] … to me it was just doing my job – I was humbled by it,” he said.
Kerr added however, the awards are a nice way to highlight the positive work the OPP does in the community, since so much of their job is surrounded by negativity.
“Sometimes our job [gets] a lot of negativity with arrests and things like that, so we don’t get a lot of thank-yous from the public,” he explained. “This is a way of saying thank you to us.”
When asked if he ever panics or gets nervous when faced with such life and death situations, Kerr says not really, because that is when the training kicks in.
“My father is [Gallaway’s] age too, if not older, and I like to treat people the way I’d want my family to be treated so you do what you can,” Kerr said.
“You know that something has to get done and you just do it … I just did it and reacted to the situation and performed the way I was supposed to – professionally and sympathetically.” He noted Muysson’s first aid training was critical in saving Gallaway’s life, adding the training is something everyone should have.
“I wish everybody would have some kind of training, whether it’s St. John’s ambulance or CPR training of some kind because you never know when it’s going to happen,” said Kerr.
“It could be an employee, a friend or a family member and at least you’re giving them a chance.”
A year later, Gallaway is almost fully recovered after having a pacemaker installed.
He says he remains tremendously grateful for the actions of Kerr and Muysson that day.
“I’m extremely grateful that Peter spent so much time giving me CPR because he apparently was pretty much beaten up by the time he was done and I’m very grateful to him for saving my life, very grateful indeed,” Gallaway told the Advertiser.
“He was indeed the man who was right there and right on the spot and was the guy that did most of the work and brought me back from the brink, so to speak, and I’m eternally grateful to him.”
Muysson did not return Advertiser phone calls by press time.
Others receiving awards are as follows:
Police Exemplary Service Medal (20 years)
– Staff Sergeant Krista A. Miller #8369, Wellington County; and
– Police Constable Heather A. Nellis #8395, Wellington County.
Police Exemplary Service Medal – First & Second Bars (30 and 40 years)
– Police Constable Terri E. Stroud #6463, Wellington County.
Quarter Century Club (25 year pin)
– Police Constable Kathleen M. Carberry, Wellington County;
– Police Constable Andrew S. Clements, Wellington County;
– Police Constable Alexander L. Smith, Wellington County; and
– Sarah Watson, Wellington County.
30 year service award
– Police Constable Kathleen M. Carberry, Wellington County;
– Police Constable Andrew S. Clements, Wellington County;
– Colleen McDougall, Wellington County; and
– Police Constable Guy P. Morin, Wellington County;
35 years
– Judy A. Culp, Wellington County; and
– Police Constable Henry Heidinga #1014, Wellington County.
