WEST ALLIS, WI (WHDH) — A trip to the grocery store likely saved a Wisconsin man’s life.
Donald Gronowski went into sudden cardiac arrest while shopping for tomatoes to finish his chili at Pick ‘N Save.
“I got dizzy; I slumped on my cart to rest. That’s the last thing I remember. I went down,” Gronowski said.
Employees called 9-1-1 before going over the loud speaker to call on other shoppers for help.
A radiology technician and two nurses heard the page and started CPR, while another staff member grabbed the store’s AED to restart Gronowski’s heart.
“Everybody did what they needed to do. The outcome is really the indicator that we did well,” said Joan Alexander, a registered nurse.
Two days after getting a pace maker, Gronowski went back to Pick ‘N Save to meet his grocery store heroes.
Pick ‘N Save had purchased AED’s for all of its stores years ago.
Gronowski said he hopes his story will encourage other businesses to do the same.
“Stores should step up and buy them and train some of their employees in CPR and how to use a defibrillator,” Gronowski said.
It will take Gronowski a few weeks before he feels back to 100 percent. But when he does, he said he will return to the store.
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