While 4-year-old Vera Posey was playing a game of tag with her father Matt Uber, she suddenly collapsed. Uber quickly realized he needed to perform CPR to save his daughter’s life, but he had no formal training or experience. Thankfully, he remembered an episode of The Office where the staff had CPR training. The hilarious bit helped save Vera’s life.
“When I was trying to think about what do I know about CPR, (my mind literally went) to that episode of The Office, where they are doing CPR training and doing the compressions to the beat of ‘Stayin’ Alive,’” Uber told TODAY. “It’s just what kicks in, what’s in your head, and that’s fortunate.”
Uber remembered the details from the episode to properly administer CPR, which he performed until the paramedics arrived. They continued to perform CPR and eventually used a defibrillator to get Vera to respond. Uber’s quick thinking had kept Vera alive.
Vera was taken to the hospital and underwent numerous tests. She had experienced cardiac arrest but no one knew why.
“There was never any indication of any issues, let alone serious cardiac issues,” Uber said. “I didn’t have any suspicion that we were dealing with a condition that led to have having cardiac arrest. I assumed it was something to do with her hitting her head.”
The test results showed that Vera had calmodulinopathy, an uncommon and life-threatening condition that causes arrhythmia in young people. Vera was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which rests under the skin to jolt the heart if it stops.
While the defibrillator will help control Vera’s arrhythmia, the family is choosing to go through a formal CPR training in case it’s ever needed again, and they are encouraging people across everywhere to get proper training, as well.
“If you have a base of CPR and a knowledge of AED (automated external defibrillator),” Uber said, “you can change a family’s life, you can change a person’s life, which could change the world.”
