Former Calgary Flames co-captain and Hockey Hall of Fame member Lanny MacDonald Earlier this year, he was surprised when a city police officer visited him with the Stanley Cup, saving his life.
In early February, MacDonald, 71, collapsed while returning from the Calgary airport, where Officer Jose Cives performed chest compressions. NHL All-Star Game in Toronto.
Sivis had no idea that MacDonald, who played for the team in the 1989 Stanley Cup game, would be attending Friday’s fundraiser hosted by the Calgary Police Rodeo Association, or that MacDonald’s former teammates Tim Hunt, Colin Patterson and Rick Walmsley would be along for the ride.
In a video posted online by the Calgary Flames, Sivis said he responded to a call on his intercom in February about a man who had collapsed. He performed chest compressions on MacDonald and used an automated external defibrillator until emergency responders arrived.
Today, Sivis and MacDonald often share coffee and laughs, and Sivis says they get along “really well.”
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McDonald called Sivis, a rodeo cowboys association director, a “local hero” in the video and said it was “extremely special” to win the Stanley Cup for him and his colleagues.
“We’ve given them a couple of auction items already, but to be able to surprise them and have them here, knowing that they’ve given so much to the community, is so meaningful and it’s a great way to thank Jose,” McDonald said in the video.
The Flames legend also thanked “two beautiful nurses” who he said also jumped in and saved his life.
Sivis said he was told he had been working at the MacDonald rescue unit for ten minutes before emergency responders took over.
“There were so many times when I thought Lanny wasn’t going to make it, but I wasn’t going to stop until I got some kind of result,” Sivis recalled of that day at the airport.
“He reminds me every day that I broke his ribs, his sternum, but on the other hand, he always tells me that he is forever grateful that I was one of the people who saved his life.”
MacDonald, originally from Hannah, Alberta, was released from Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary two weeks after suffering a heart attack.
Friday’s fundraiser also raised money for the Missing Children’s Society of Canada.
“We’re all teammates, but they have different types of teammate challenges, and it’s great to be here to support them tonight,” McDonald said.
In this promotional photo, former Calgary Flames co-captain and Hockey Hall of Fame member Lanny McDonald, left, and const. Jose Cives pose with the Stanley Cup.
The Canadian Press/HO-calgaryflames.com – Ryan Dittrick
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