Quick Action from Church Members Saves Life of St. Thomas Band Leader
In the congregation at The Salvation Army Church in St. Thomas on March 19th, 2023, were Larry Rigg, his wife, Mary Beth, and their daughter, Mykaela Marshall. Larry is a trained Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services volunteer responder; Mary Beth is a retired emergency room nurse, and Mykaela is trained in CPR, having worked as a head lifeguard.
The family were guided by a series of interesting coincidences and divine interventions to save the life of Bob Barrett on March 19th. While playing the cornet at the start of a service at The Salvation Army St. Thomas Church, Bob went into cardiac arrest after having a heart attack. He had just placed the cornet down when he slumped over in his chair.
The Riggs were not even supposed to be in St. Thomas on that Sunday. Their home church is The Salvation Army London Citadel, and that is where they would have normally been that day. Visiting St. Thomas Church to lead the service on March 19th were Mykaela’s in-laws, Les and Tiffany Marshall, The Salvation Army’s Territorial Secretary and Assistant Secretary for Mission, who were visiting from Toronto. To hear the sermon, and to visit with the Marshalls, The Riggs decided to take in the service at The Salvation Army St. Thomas Church instead.
“When you stop to think about it, it’s kind of weird. When we went home, we said, ‘it’s weird that happened,’” Larry Rigg recalls. “I’ve been retired four years, and I remember saying to my wife that after being trained in CPR for 30 years, I’ve never had to use it. Then out of the blue…”
After seeing Bob slump over, Larry, Mary Beth and Mykaela instinctively rushed to Bob’s side from their nearby seats, getting him out of the chair and onto his back. He had no pulse, so Mary Beth started administering CPR. With 911 called, Mykaela and Mary Beth each took turns giving CPR. With still no pulse, the automated external defibrillator (AED) was brought in from the church lobby. Bob was given one shock from the machine, which restored his heartbeat and brought him back.
For their heroic efforts, Larry, Mary Beth and Mykaela were recently honoured with The Rescuer Award from the Canadian Red Cross, to thank them for their quick-thinking response to the medical emergency.
By the time Bob’s heartbeat was restored with the AED, paramedics and the fire department had shown up to take over treatment. Paramedics transported Bob to the intensive care unit at a nearby hospital.
“Bob’s son sent a picture of his father at about 5 or 6 in the evening, sitting up in a hospital bed in the ICU. He was talking, he had a smile, and he was eating. That just blew us away,” Larry says.
Bob remembers playing the cornet at the start of the service and recalls slumping over in his chair, but beyond that he has no memory of being treated. The next thing he recalls is waking up in the intensive care unit at the hospital, surrounded by machines.
“I think the Lord had a hand in making all these people available to me. The people that attended to me all knew what they were doing. Had the Rigg family not been there, I wouldn’t have had the right people to take charge of the situation,” Bob says.
He and his wife Joy have met with the Riggs since his medical emergency, and he is back attending regular church services in St. Thomas.
“Naturally we thanked them and said how fortunate we were. I couldn’t say anything more than thank you and how good it was that they were here with everything they did for me,” Bob says.
Joy Barrett, Bob’s wife, says doctors told them that her husband is a lucky man to have survived. She believes their faith played a role in saving Bob’s life.
“I am sure that God had some part in it, and I am sure that Bob is alive today because of that. The Riggs will always be a special family to us. We didn’t know them before, but we certainly know them now,” Joy says.
In another happy coincidence, the AED used on Bob had recently had a new battery installed and the pads had just been replaced, as the previous ones were outdated. “The defibrillator had been checked and it was ready to go. It proved to be a very important thing,” Bob says.
Adam Marshall, Community Outreach Coordinator at The Salvation Army St. Thomas Church, believes many ‘wow’ factors lined up that day to save Bob’s life.
“I’m incredibly proud of what my family did. I am proud of my wife, Mykaela, and my in-laws for their quick response. They responded as anyone would, without hesitation. It was inspiring to watch,” Adam says.
Bob spent four days in hospital to get his heart stabilized. He has been told to not overdue himself, so golfing, yard work and lifting heavy objects is out for a while, but he is still going to church, grocery shopping with Joy and running errands.
“I feel fine, and I feel I could do anything. I’m very grateful for everything that was done for me. I’m very fortunate.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with Bob, Joy and their family, and wish him the best during his recovery.