By Khalida Sarwari
Joan Holland, along with her children, a friend and their dogs, set out on a late morning hike at Fremont Older one late morning in June last year. What was supposed to be a leisurely summer day hike turned into a life-and-death encounter for the group.
Holland still chokes up when telling the story. Despite their plans changing several times that day, she and her group embarked from Saratoga, where she lives, to Cupertino for an afternoon of hiking. As they were leaving the parking lot to head up to the trail, she said they let another group pass them on the way up. But it wasn’t long before they met again, this time under stressful circumstances. As they rounded a curve, Holland and her group spotted an elderly man who appeared to have fainted and was being supported by other members of his group.
“At that point we knew something was definitely not right,” she remembered.
Holland’s group watched as they lay the man down, and without hesitating Holland called 911. But because they were in an area without cell reception, the call kept dropping. Holland’s friend, Jen, ran up the hill to try and call park rangers from there.
As Jen was making her way up the hill, Holland said that’s when she noticed the man was not breathing well and it was clear he required resuscitation. As her 21-year-old son, Tyler, ran to the ranger’s station about a mile away, Holland, who’s been CPR-certified since she was 13 years old, attempted to resuscitate the man. Meanwhile, her younger children, Jenny, 16, and Cameron, 14, along with the two dogs, were sent to the trail junctions to watch and listen for paramedics.
“It was just one of those surreal scenes, like I can’t believe this is happening,” Holland said. Members of the man’s group, including his wife, assisted her by cushioning her knees with the hats and sweaters they were carrying. Pretty soon, a ranger arrived–followed by others–and took over the rescue effort until paramedics arrived. Holland continued performing compressions and then stepped back as the emergency responders worked on the man for another 40 minutes. Unfortunately, the man could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene.
“When I think about it, it puts me back there,” Holland said, fighting back tears.
She and her group stayed a little longer, overcome by shock. “It’s not how you want it to happen,” she said. “You want a miracle on the trail.”
Holland embraced the man’s wife and then stepped back to allow the family time to grieve. She said even though she wasn’t able to revive the man, she took some solace in knowing that his family and friends weren’t alone at that moment and had people there to help them, or at the very least, share their grief.
“It was just one of those complete circumstantial things that we were there on that day, on that trail behind them and we saw this happen and tried to help,” she said.
Humbled by the experience, Holland and her kids and friend spent the remainder of their afternoon at a Jamba Juice, each one of them in their own thoughts, ruminating on the fragility of life. Later, she learned that the man had suffered a heart attack, but said she and his family did not exchange any information and haven’t kept in touch, although she thinks about them often.
Holland was one of five people recognized recently by Triple-A for her efforts. The organization has named her both “rescuer of the month” and “rescuer of the year.” Her actions prompted Triple-A to donate $5,000 to the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, which will use the funds to train 46 high school students in CPR and first aid across Santa Clara County, and $10,000 to the North Tahoe Fire District.
While she said she’s been a little surprised and embarrassed by the recognition, Holland admitted it underscores the importance of knowing how to administer CPR. Because the family’s been involved in the Boy Scouts, Holland and her kids are all trained, she said.
“Basically, you never know when you’ll be the one to help. and I think people should know what to do to help each other,” she said. “I’m just a regular person and if I can do this, hopefully it can inspire somebody else to be the one to jump forward and help somebody.”
The other honorees are Paul Bradley from Santa Rosa; Scott Bernards from Santaquin, Utah; Ben Kole from Henderson, Nev.; and Michael Landsberry from Reno, Nev., who died during a rescue.
