Camryn McLeod (centre) receives a Vital Link Award from primary care paramedic with BCEHS Joseph Hale (L) after performing CPR on her mother who collapsed in their Nanaimo home in 2022. Her mother, Kim Macaulay (R), proudly looking on. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

life-saving skills

‘I have to act fast:’ Nanaimo woman honoured for saving her mother’s life

Mar 18, 2025 | 5:27 AM

NANAIMO — A local woman has been honoured by the provincial emergency health service for helping to save her mother’s life.

Camryn McLeod was only 19 years old when her mother fell in their Nanaimo home and experienced cardiac arrest in the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 2022.

McLeod, who is visually impaired, found her mom unresponsive with no pulse and phoned 911, and was able to recall her recent first aid training at that vital moment.

“My brain kind of went completely blank in the moment,” she told NanaimoNewsNOW. “But it did slowly come back to me and I just remember (thinking), ‘I can’t stop I have to act fast and I can’t stop, and I just have to do everything in my power.’ It felt like I was floating in the moment, it felt like both of us were floating like it wasn’t real. It was a nightmare, actually.”

With assistance from the emergency medical call taker, McLeod was able to perform CPR on her mother until paramedics arrived and could take over.

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She said despite the shock she was feeling in the moment, she knew she had to act fast.

“I was in a panic, and I just knew I had to do everything I possibly could to make her come back to life. I never thought it would ever happen, and I’m just so grateful everything worked out the way it did.”

Camryn McLeod and her mother Kim Macaulay after being presented with the BCEHS Vital Link Award along with a special “Saved a Life” coin. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

McLeod had completed a level one first aid course with her mother acting as her scribe only a few months before the incident, with her mother joking at the time she hoped her daughter would never have to perform it on her.

“I feel very grateful to have my mom with me today. I don’t know what I would do without her. She’s my entire world, and everything revolves around her and without her, we just wouldn’t be able to go on the same.”

Her mother Kim Macaulay was emotional at times during the award presentation ceremony in Nanaimo on Monday, March 17.

Macaulay said her daughter needed to complete the first-aid program as a job requirement and never dreamed she would have to put it into practice only a few months later on her own mother.

“I just remember thinking how terrifying it would, be to actually have to use that on anybody. I think it’s so important. I don’t think you get that kind of training and then become an expert at it by any means, but I think without it, Cam may not have had the ability to respond the way she did even with the call.”

She said how physically she’s doing great now, the emotional wounds an incident like this can have take a lot longer to heal.

Macaulay said she thinks basic first aid training should be taught in high schools to give everyone at least the “seed” of knowledge which could be used to save a life.

She said she’s incredibly proud of her daughter and grateful for the first responders.

“How grateful I am to my daughter and to everybody that responded. I never want this to be forgotten, and I want the recognition for what she did, for what our first responders do to be celebrated and acknowledged that they’re saving lives. My gratitude runs deeper than I could ever possibly imagine.”

BCEHS nominates recipients of the Vital Link Awards to honour bystanders who take skillful action during cardiac arrest emergencies.

McLeod was joined by her mother, other family, and members of the BCEHS service for a special award ceremony in Nanaimo on Monday, March 17. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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