Bystander Saves Life Of Man Suffering Cardiac Arrest During Bike The Drive
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A 72-year-old bicyclist was revived by paramedics and a bystander who happened to be a doctor after he collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest during the Bike the Drive Sunday morning.
At 8:45 a.m. near North Avenue, the man suffered a cardiac arrest while riding bicycle, according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Joe Roccasalva.
"A bystander who happened to be a doctor stopped and did CPR until Engine 98 got there,'' according to Roccasalva.
The victim was in cardiac arrest and paramedics continued CPR and shocked him.
"They got him back into a regular rhythm,'' Roccasalva said.
He was awake and alert when he was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was in serious, but "stable,' condition.
"He was saved,'' said Roccasalva.
About 20,000 bikers participated in the MB Financial Bank's Bike the Drive event Sunday morning on Lake Shore Drive, according to event spokesman Ethan Spotts.
Bike the Drive is a 15- or 30-mile bike ride along Lake Shore Drive, which started at 5:30 a.m. and caused the closure of all vehicular traffic from Hollywood to 59th Street until 9:30 a.m.
"It's about four hours of car-free Lake Shore Drive,'' Spotts said.
Bikers were invited onto LSD and were allowed to bike anywhere from Hollywood to 59th Streets.
"A lot of people use Bike the Drive as a kickoff to their summers,'' said Spotts.
There are two rest spots, one at the Museum of Science and Industry and another at Bryn Mawr Avenue.
"You can bike as little or as long as you want. We have 1-year-olds in trailers and 80-year-olds -- and everyone in between,'' Spotts said.
A post-event party was planned from 7:30 a.m. until noon which includes an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast and a Blues Brothers tribute band, in the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, Spotts said.
All bicyclists had to be off LSD by 9:45 a.m. and LSD was reopened at 10:30 a.m.
The event is a fundraiser for Active Transportation Alliance, a nonprofit that works on behalf of people who walk, bicycle and use public transit in Chicagoland, the release said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
