VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WTKR) – When an 11-year-old Virginia girl learned CPR through Girl Scouts, she never thought she’d be using her new skills less than two weeks later – and on her own father.
Clinton Carawan says he’s truly grateful to be alive after having a massive heart attack in November. He had multiple blockages, including one artery that was 100% blocked, but fortunately, his 11-year-old daughter, Vada Carawan, was there when he collapsed.
Vada immediately dialed 911 and connected with a dispatcher.
“I told him that my dad fell back. He’s trying to gasp for air,” she said.
The 11-year-old then began performing chest compressions on her father. She had learned CPR just 11 days earlier through a Girl Scouts training course he drove her to. She didn’t think she would need to use it so soon.
Vada says some of the questions going through her mind as she worked to save her father included “What’s gonna happen after this?” and “What’s life gonna be if I lose my dad?”
Despite her worries, the 11-year-old stayed calm and kept her focus. The 911 dispatcher helped her keep count to get the correct chest compression rate.
“I was just like, ‘I need to save my dad’s life. That’s the main focus right now. Chest compressions – I need to do it. Once the EMTs come, then I can break down in tears,‘” she said. “I focused on saving him. I needed to save my dad. I needed for him to be alive.”
Vada says she performed chest compressions for about five to seven minutes, time that her father’s doctor – Dr. Deepak Talreja, the chief of cardiology for Sentara Health – says was critical.
Talreja says Carawan suffered “sudden cardiac death.”
“It happens with no warning whatsoever, and a person just collapses to the ground with no heartbeat and no pulse; they’re clinically dead,” the doctor said. “Because he was getting CPR, that kept his brain alive in time for lifesaving interventions to arrive.”
Talreja says there’s no doubt Vada saved her father’s life.
After paramedics arrived, Carawan was rushed to Sentara Virginia Beach General. He was then transferred to Sentara’s Heart Hospital in Norfolk to get his blockages cleared out.
Now, Carawan says he’s feeling good. He says he gets emotional reflecting on his daughter’s actions.
“I tear up thinking about it every time. It’s amazing. I can’t believe it, to be honest with you,” he said.
As for Vada, she says this is a lesson to everyone – but especially kids – that you can do anything you put your mind to.
“You can do anything that you put your mind to, no matter how old you are. I think that’s important for everybody to know because some kids are saying that they can’t do stuff because they’re too little or not strong enough to do it, but I don’t believe that whatsoever,” she said.
Carawan says he has a family history of heart disease, but he had no major symptoms before he collapsed. He has since made adjustments to his lifestyle, including quitting cigarettes and changing his diet.
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