Three Lethbridge Polytechnic caretakers and a former Corrections student received St. John Ambulance Life-saving Awards for their quick thinking and using their first-aid training to help a casual caretaker in medical distress.
Caretakers Edmond Kangogo (CAN-go-go) and Eizak Amawi (EYE-zak AH-moe-yeh), caretaking supervisor John Izart (EYE-zart) and former Corrections student Ravinder Khosa (COE-sah) were nominated for the award by Lethbridge Polytechnic, for their actions on the evening of Feb. 28, 2023. The awards ceremony was held in Edmonton at Government House Sept. 20.
The four sprang to action to help Jeremiah Byaombe (BAH-yom-bay), at the time a 24-year-old student in the English Language Centre who had joined the polytechnic’s caretaking team as a casual employee just a few weeks earlier.
After working for a few hours in the Instructional Building, a standalone space on the east side of campus, Byaombe made his way back to Centre Core to meet fellow caretaker Kangogo.
Kangogo had introduced himself to Byaombe for the first time earlier that day. They discovered they both speak Swahili. Kangogo, who emigrated from Kenya, has worked full-time at the polytechnic since 2015. Byaombe had come to Canada just eight months earlier after spending a decade in a refugee camp in Malawi as one of tens of thousands of people displaced by conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kangogo made arrangements for Byaombe to switch assignments, so they could work part of their shift together.
Kangogo says he doesn’t know what moved him to request the assignment change, but that decision meant Byaombe was not alone when he suddenly collapsed.
“I was in a good mood that day,” Byaombe recalls. “I was getting ready to take a break. But I started to shake. I wasn’t feeling good at all. I suddenly had no power. Eddie (Kangogo) told me to sit down.”
Byaombe slumped to the floor in the polytechnic’s main hallway near E.C. Frederick’s Theatre. “My heart was racing,” he says.
Kangogo phoned fellow caretaker Amawi, who was working in the Physical Education Building at the northwest end of campus, to say “There’s something wrong with Brother.” Amawi ran toward Centre Core. The men use the term “brother” freely, but after the events of that night, the term means something deeper.
Also on scene was Byaombe’s 12-year-old nephew Amisi (AH-me-see). Just before becoming faint, Byaombe had called Amisi to ask him to bring his bus pass to campus. When Amawi arrived from the PE building, Amisi was also on the floor comforting his uncle.
“He was so brave,” Kangogo says. “He put Jeremiah’s head on his lap and just stayed with him all the way to the hospital.”
Amawi called 911, answering questions about Byaombe’s status which deteriorated until he became unresponsive.
Khosa was next on the scene. The then 24-year-old Calgarian was in his first year of Correctional Studies. He had been studying in the quiet Trades, Technologies and Innovation Facility at the south end of campus and was on his way home. One of his classes focused on preparing students to keep calm and respond to unexpected situations.
“One of the scenarios we practised was what to do if you come across a body,” Khosa says. “You quickly assess the situation. I’m so grateful that gave me good instincts.”
Khosa trained in first aid in 2020, a requirement of his job with Paladin Security, the same company that provides security on campus. Khosa was a regular visitor to the Security office, chatting with his Paladin colleagues. He knew the office had an automated external defibrillator (AED). After checking Byaombe’s vital signs and thinking he was having a heart attack, Khosa ran to the Security office to get the AED, which went unused.
By the time he returned, Byaombe had stopped breathing. Khosa started cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Kangogo remembers Khosa doing three rounds of 30 chest compressions and alternating breaths before the paramedics arrived and took over.
He wasn’t the only person trained in first aid at the scene. Caretaking supervisor John Izart, who had been working in the Andrews Building, was drawn to the commotion. Having recertified in first aid the previous year, Izart offered to take over from Khosa, but the student carried on. The resuscitation efforts worked. Byaombe regained consciousness.
Byaombe says he doesn’t have any biological brothers in his family, but surrounded by Kangogo, Amawi and Izart, he says he now has many brothers, and he was especially moved to hear a student helped save his life.
Byaombe missed classes for just two days and was back at work a couple of weeks later. He has been given a clean bill of health. The incident is being blamed on a potassium deficiency, and he says he’s felt fine ever since.
He says he knows the story could have had a very different ending. Had this happened when he was living in a refugee camp, there would have been no health care services to save him, he says. Had he not been called to fill in at work, the incident could have happened when he was alone at home. Had Kangogo not requested his reassignment, Byaombe might have collapsed in another building and not had a friendly face immediately at his side. “But because I’m working with people, they saved my life,” he says.
Amawi describes what happened in those 20 minutes – with help arriving from three other buildings on campus – as “the mercy of God,” and a display of Lethbridge Polytechnic’s community and diversity. Their awards came just before Custodian Appreciation Day, Oct. 2, and their story serves as a reminder of how much the institution’s caretakers contribute to the polytechnic’s caring culture.
“We care about each other,” Amawi says. “We are part of a family. I learned this from that.”
The story is also a lesson in the importance of first-aid training, says Frank Zappone, the polytechnic’s manager of Occupational Health and Safety.
“First-aid training not only provides you with the skills and knowledge to provide immediate assistance to those who are injured or in medical distress, but it also gives you the confidence in knowing what to do in an emergency situation,” Zappone says. “Having that confidence not only in knowing what to do but in taking control of the situation can help save lives.”
“This could happen to anyone, anytime,” Khosa says, noting he and Byaombe are roughly the same age. “I’m so thankful he survived. I hope everyone would jump in to help. Don’t be afraid to take initiative and help someone. This experience made me appreciate life a bit more. It’s changed my perspective.”
Khosa also shifted his career plans. He’s now training to be a paramedic and hopes to join first responders in Calgary.
Amawi and Kangogo attended the award ceremony in Edmonton Sept. 20. Lethbridge Polytechnic presented Izart his pin and certificate at a celebration gathering Sept. 26.