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Three Kelowna residents receive award for help to save a man’s life

The men helped keep Kevin Trottier alive after he suffered a heart attack and crashed his car into a tree
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Three Kelowna residents were honored with the Vital Link award on Sunday for their aid in helping save a man’s life.

The incident occurred when Kevin Trottier suffered a heart attack and crashed his car near Smith Creek in Kelowna. He had been mountain biking shortly before the accident happened.

Kayle Trottier, Kale Rempel and Nic McLaren —three passersby who stumbled upon Kevin after they also had finished mountain biking in the area — stepped in to perform life-saving CPR on Kevin to keep him alive before paramedics arrived on the scene.

Among the three that came to the rescue was Kevin’s son Kayle. Miraculously Kayle had just learned CPR a few months earlier thanks to his gym teacher and was able to take appropriate action.

BC Emergency Health Services said it was remarkable how the three men were able to keep Kevin alive, particularly because a persons’ chance of surviving a cardiac arrest drops by about ten per cent each minute the receiver does not have medical help.

The three received the Vital Award on Sunday at Station 341, where they held a small ceremony to thank the three men for their heroic actions.

When Kevin was called up to speak, he got quite emotional, embracing each of the men and letting out a few tears.

The Vital Link Award is presented to citizens who are involved in saving a life through successful CPR efforts.

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