April 3, 2025 • Volume 39, No. 23
Next edition April 17
L’édition de cette semaine à l’intérieur...
17-year-old heart attack survivor grateful to be alive By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star
Wendy Fortier from the Orléans Legion holds up some of the 4,000 plus handmade poppies they have so far received as part of the Legion’s 2025 Poppy Project. See story page 3. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO
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Seventeen-year-old Tyler Bell got the scare of his young life on January 23. The Orléans resident was attending classes at the Norman Johnston Alternative School in Blackburn Hamlet when he suddenly collapsed for no apparent reason. Tyler’s teacher, Kim Brent, saw the young man collapse and immediately sent someone to the office where vice-principal Charles Tourigny called 9-1-1. The school’s guidance counselor, Mark Frankish, was also near the spot where Tyler collapsed and immediately jumped into action, applying CPR while waiting for the paramedics to arrive. At the same time, fellow teacher Cameron Dunfee grabbed the school’s defibrillator and applied it to Tyler’s chest and restored his heartbeat.
Ottawa paramedics arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and stabilized Tyler, who was still unconscious, before loading him into an ambulance and rushing him to the hospital where he underwent several hours of surgery surrounded by a huge team of professionals. Through it all, Tyler’s mother, Stephanie Bell, felt totally helpless. “I got a call from the school at 12:20 p.m. telling me that my son had an emergency and was not breathing. I just jumped in the car with my daughter Kiera and we flew to the school,” says Stephanie, who made it just after the paramedics had arrived. “I felt helpless. All I could do was pray. So I prayed to my uncle Angus, who had passed away. My mom. And my Fil Lorn. Asking them all to just send him back. He wasn’t ready to go.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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