Doctor helps save life of man who went into cardiac arrest at airport

By Hannah Cotter

Click here for updates on this story

    MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (WMUR) — A Florida man on Tuesday was able to thank the Dartmouth Health doctor who jumped into action earlier this month to save him when he went into cardiac arrest at a Salt Lake City airport.

It was a team effort by Dr. Anant Shukla and other health care providers to save Peter Wall, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“It was just a really coordinated effort from individuals who just really didn’t know each other, and it was as if they had been working together for years,” said Andrew Wall, Peter Wall’s son.

Peter Wall and his son had flown from Fort Lauderdale to Park City, Utah, for a 10-day father-son trip. Everything went well until they were about to catch their last flight home.

“I knew there was obviously an issue,” Andrew Wall said. “Someone was yelling that he couldn’t breathe.”

Peter Wall went into cardiac arrest.

“I wasn’t even supposed to be there,” Shukla said.

Shukla, an emergency medicine resident at Dartmouth Health, said he had a last-minute flight change, so he went into the lounge to grab some coffee.

“When I heard someone scream out, ‘Is there a doctor?'” Shukla said.

Shukla and several others jumped into action and began CPR. The team included Josh Lane, a Utah nurse who had just missed his flight.

“I happened to introduce myself and give him a quick, ‘This is my background. Can I help?’ and Dr. Shukla goes, ‘I don’t think we have a pulse,'” Lane said. “So, I instinctively just hopped in and started doing chest compressions.”

Shukla said things didn’t look good.

“We were just like, ‘This is not going to be a good outcome,’ just based off of how things look,” he said.

But the efforts of those at the airport worked, and Peter Wall is now almost completely recovered.

“I’m feeling very thankful, and I’m very happy to have met the people that saved my life,” he said.

Amid all of the chaos, someone in the Wall family accidentally grabbed Shukla’s iPad and took it to the hospital.

“I got my iPad back, but I also got Mr. Wall’s business card,” Shukla said. “And so, I was able to reach out to him and say, ‘Hey, how’s your father doing?'”

That turned into Tuesday’s Zoom call reunion.

“To see him sitting here is just amazing,” Lane said.

Peter Wall, his son, and the health care professionals involved said this is a perfect example of how proper chest compressions can save a life. Experts said only 10% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients survive out of 350,000 every year, so they’re encouraging everyone to get certified.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.