One-on-One with Cardiac Arrest Survivor: Ian Edema

As he walks into the room for our interview, Mr Ian Edema greets us with a chirpy ‘Hello!’ and a bounce in his step.

The affable IT engineer is enjoying what he calls his “second chance at life” after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest, a fatal condition that happens to about 3,000 people every year in Singapore. The current survival rate stands at a mere 6.2%.

“I never expected it to happen to me,” Ian recounts. It was during a routine day at the office when, without warning, he collapsed in the office pantry “and woke up two weeks later in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with zero recollection,” he says.

“It was nothing like what we see in the movies; I didn’t feel any tightness or pains in the chest,” he shares. But he was lucky. “It just so happened that I had colleagues [shipping captains] around who were experienced with CPR and saving lives.”

His heart stopped thrice that day: twice in the office and once in the ambulance. “I got a second chance thanks to them,” Ian gushes. “That’s why Community First Responders (CFRs) are so important to our community! They can help save lives. If I didn’t receive CPR from the captains, it might have been too late when the ambulance arrived.”

Now an advocate for CPR training and CFR registration on the myResponder app, Ian is full of gratitude to be alive and urges everyone to sign up as a responder, and learn and practice lifesaving skills.

And his advice for life in general? “So many people… are depressed because they keep looking back at the past instead of what’s ahead of them. If you don’t appreciate what you have right now, you could be gone in a snap of a finger! Start living in the present and enjoy what it has to offer.”