Custodians honoured for saving colleague’s life

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on October 3, 2024.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Lethbridge Polytechnic caretaker Edmond Kangogo talks about his experience helping to save the life of a colleague in 2023 that earned he and three others awards last month.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Three caretakers and a former student of Lethbridge Polytechnic have been recognized for saving the life of a student on campus in 2023.

Edmond Kangogo, Eizak Amawi – both caretakers – as well as caretaking supervisor John Izart and former Corrections student Ravinder Khosa were honoured Sept. 20 with St. John Ambulance Life-saving Awards at Government House in Edmonton.

The four sprang to action and used their first-aid training on Feb. 28 last year to help Jeremiah Byaombe, a student in the Polytechnic’s English Language program who had joined the caretaking team as a casual employee a few weeks earlier.

Byaombe suddenly collapsed after meeting Kangogo in the Centre Core after working in the instructional building for a few hours.

The two had just met earlier that day and discovered they both spoke Swahili. Kangogo, who had emigrated to Canada from Kenya, has worked full-time at the educational institution since 2015 while Byaombe came to Canada just eight months before his health emergency following a decade spent in a Malawi refugee camp.

Byaombe, who was getting ready to take a break, started feeling unwell and after Kangogo told him to sit, he fell to the floor in the main hallway near the E.C. Frederick’s Theatre, his heart racing.

Kangogo called Amawi who was working in the Physical Education building on campus and Amawi ran to the Centre Core.

Amawi called 911 and answered questions about the condition of his “brother” until Byaombe became unresponsive.

Khosa, of Calgary came upon the scene, checked Byaombe’s vital signs and thinking he’d suffered a heart attack ran to the campus security office which he knew had an automated external defibrillator. Khosa had trained in first aid in 2020 for his job with Paladin Security.

By the time Khosa returned, Byaombe had stopped breathing and Khosa began CPR until before City paramedics arrived on scene.

Supervisor Izart came upon the scene and offered to take over resuscitation efforts from Khosa who continued, those resuscitation efforts which were successful with Byaombe regaining consciousness.

His incident was blamed on a potassium deficiency and he missed classes for a mere two days, returning to work in a couple of weeks.

Amawi and Kangogo talked to media at the Polytechnic on Wednesday – Custodian Appreciation Day – about their experience helping Byaombe who they consider to be their brother.

The two discussed how the situation unfolded, what they did and how it impacted them personally.

Kangogo recalled being on shift and assigned to work with Byaombe that day.

The two met up and Byaombe started holding his chest “and told me I cannot breathe,” Kangogo said.

He started holding Byaombe who slumped to the ground. Kangogo said he then called Amawi and told him to call 911 because Kangogo was having a problem.

Kangogo then passed Amawi his cellphone which he had been talking to a nephew named Amisi on and passed out. Kangogo stayed on the line, talking to the nephew who came to the Polytechnic and was comforting his uncle by the time Khosa came upon the incident.

Before becoming faint, Byaombe had called the 12-year-old Amisi asking him to bring his bus pass to him. By the time Amawi arrived on scene, Amisi was there comforting his uncle.

“It means a lot being there to help when somebody is in need, especially in this situation,” Kangogo said.

“It means a lot being there for somebody, saving lives,” he said, noting such a situation could arise anywhere.

He said he was terrified but when Amawi came by he knew the situation would get better.

“That day was a really unique day.”

Amawi said his role in the situation was to save the life of his colleague, a situation he said was new to he and Kangogo.

Amawi assessed the situation and realized it could intensify. After he called 911, his role became that of communicator and monitor of the situation.

He said an ambulance arrived a few minutes after Khosa began his resuscitation efforts.

He called the situation “something unforeseen,” and said resuscitation efforts were a team effort.