Man rescued by bystanders at Caribou Coffee after cardiac arrest in Wayzata

WAYZATA, Minn. (KMSP) - Bystanders jumped into action on Tuesday after a man went into cardiac arrest at the Caribou Coffee in Wayzata, Minn.

“A friend of mine stopped by and we were chatting and all of a sudden I hear a loud noise and a man at the counter fell backwards,” June Vanvalkenberg said.

A nurse practitioner at Allina by day, Vanvalkenberg jumped right in. Unable to find a pulse, her friend performed CPR while Vanvalkenberg assessed him.

“I could see that his life was going before our eyes,” she said. “He was blue and starting to go cold and we never did get him to respond."

A minute or two in, police arrived with an AED. Although officers were able to get his pulse back, they credit the man's survival to the immediate response by civilians.

Vanvalkenberg said her 26-year-old daughter Jerika had died after going into cardiac arrest in July. And although she died alone in her bedroom, she said she can't help but think what the outcome would have been if her daughter was near people that knew CPR.

“The chance had she been somewhere and this had happened to her, she could still be alive,” Vanvalkenberg said.

But at least she can find some peace knowing she gave one man the second chance her daughter never had.

Police don't know whether the victim from Caribou survived, but said he was alert and talking by the time they put him in the ambulance.