A 53-year-old woman surnamed Chen suffered a cardiac arrest at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in early March while waiting to board a flight with her husband and daughter. Dr. Eduardo Quintana, a cardiovascular surgeon on his way back to Spain, rushed to her aid after hearing the commotion. He performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the scene and successfully restarted the woman’s heart before medical crews arrived.
After being diagnosed with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in hospital, Ms. Chen required open heart surgery. Dr. Quintana, who trained at Wuhan Tongji Hospital in minimally invasive surgery, collaborated with Professor Wei Xiang to perform the operation on Ms. Chen. The open surgery was successful, and Ms. Chen recovered well, attributing the events to fate.
In recent years, China has been promoting CPR training to the public, as the life-saving success rate of CPR during out-of-hospital heart attacks is less than 1% compared to 10% in developed countries. Dr. Quintana’s heroic act and Ms. Chen’s successful surgery serve as a testament to the importance of CPR training and rapid medical intervention in life-threatening situations.
