A Seizure at Maglio's in Nelson

July 22, 2017

It was a casual Saturday morning.  I was in town the previous night to house sit for a friend.  I had just finished taking the doggies for a walk and then left to make my way back home out of town.

I stopped in at Maglio's to get a piece of rebar, and to see if they had any pruning shears. I saw Gord out in the parking lot.  He’s been working there for a long time.  Many years ago, he recognized me from all the triathlon stuff I was doing that had landed me in the local media a bunch.  We seemed to hit it off right away back then, and have had many kind friendly smiles and hello's ever since. 

It was still relatively early in the morning, so it was nice and casual in the store.  Perfect!  I hate busy!  The aisle for the pruning shears was right near the front counter and easy to find.  I rolled in straight away and found the last pair they had. Sweeeet!  I grabbed them and went to the check out counter.

As soon as I put the shears down on the counter I looked to my right and there was a man on the floor.  He was an older gentleman.  I heard his wife say he was having a seizure.  (Me...in my mind:  "Whoa!")  I was kinda blown away by how calm and mellow she was.  She definitely had it together, that’s for sure.

Right away, one of the Maglio's staff called for first aid, and to phone 911.  Someone else on the staff appeared instantly from outta nowhere.  I can’t remember that staff member's name, but I had spoken to him a few times before.  Totally nice guy!  I wanna say his name is Randy, but really I have no clue at all, so I'll just stick with not pretending to know.  I think he worked in the office behind the front desk.  (I remember talking to him about ordering some Dremel bits for some carving I was doing before.)

Anyway, he was there in a flash.  He knelt down and was cradling the gentleman’s head in his hands, and talking to him in a warm and caring voice that was full of reassurance in that everything was going to be OK.  It was quite fascinating to watch the care he was giving.

One of the guys behind the counter was on the phone with the 911 operator.  The gentleman’s wife said that he also has dementia.  She was talking to the staff who were helping, and said that, from the look in his eyes, he was at least aware and that was a good thing.  She was pretty amazing how she was handling it all too.

The guy behind the counter who was helping me...he and I kinda stole a couple glimpses, but just kept doing our thing all casual-like so as not to just be gawking at this man having a seizure.   I didn’t really feel the need to watch and stare ‘cause I kinda thought it to be rude.  I was more fascinated with how the Maglio's staff were handling everything.

My initial thought was that, “not only is the poor guy having a seizure, but it is in a public place, and despite his dementia, and the nature of what was going on, a bigger audience wouldn’t be what he wanted, nor the best thing for the situation.”  At least, that’s what I felt he would answer if he was lucid, without dementia, and you were to ask him as a hypothetical; so I felt it would be better to simply move along.

His wife took over the phone call with 911 to talk them through the situation and everything they needed to know about her husband and his basic history.  She was a total bad-ass the way she went about it.  Just so ridiculously calm, and together!

As he was lying there on the floor, the staff member who was holding his head in his hands was still talking to him and looking in his eyes.  It seemed as though he was listening to the man’s wife talk to the 911 operator, and using that information to know how to speak to the man...trying to comfort him, and letting him know that everything was gonna be OK, and that the man was being taken care of and he was in a safe place.  Everything was so casual, but so together.

When I had finished my transaction, I caught another glimpse, and then started to head out of the store.  I stopped though because I heard someone say the ambulance was there already. When I heard that, I kinda did a double take in my mind ‘cause I couldn’t believe they were there that fast.  “Shit maaaaan…totally crushing it on this fine Saturday morning!!”

The way one would pull over on the side of the road when a lit-up emergency vehicle is charging down the street, I stood off to the side of the entrance area so the ambulance crew could come in with the stretcher and their gear.  That’s when I casually watched for a little bit.

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I sorta glanced back and forth between catching glimpses of him on the floor with the staff, and waiting for the ambulance people to come in.  When I saw them walk in, I kinda smiled and mini-nodded with, “so bad-ass” in my mind.  I also said to myself, “Hey…it’s that one ambulance girl that I have seen several times.  Sweet!  Of course it’s her!  Yaaay for her!”

(I have seen her several times on the job. The last time being last summer when I walked into emergency to get my stupid brain checked out because of all the numbness in my skull that had been going on for months. <Still numb…just like all my other shit…I'm like that for life, so suck it up and move on.>  She always has such a warm demeanor about her, and it always kinda strikes me that if shit goes down, she’s the type I’d want helping me.  I’ve been around a freakin’ lotta doctors/healers in my 24 years of being super messed up, and I can say this…a lot of them can take lessons from her about how to carry themselves when dealing with people.)

The ambulance girls got in there and continued with the theme of the moment, “Casual freakin’ awesomeness!”

The tone in everyone’s voices, as well as body movements, and everything was so embracing and reassuring…beyond professional!

So, once the ambulance ladies were past me and had started talking to him I casually started walking outta the store again.

I was so blown away by it all.  It wasn’t as much that the man was having a seizure, I had seen that in public before (the first time was a girl on the hallway floor in high school), but it was how everything went down.  I mean, this all happened in the time it took for me to pay for a pair of pruning shears, and order a piece of rebar!  That's it!  It was crazy, but more so, it was handled so well. 

As I was walking outta the store, the jack-ass part of me was thinkin’, “Shit maaaan…if I ever have a seizure, I sure hope to hell it’s at Maglio's in Nelson. Daaaamn…that was so bad-ass!”

Not only was I so impressed with the way it all was handled by everyone, I was completely fascinated by it too. 

The Maglio's staff, the man’s wife, the patrons in the store who didn’t make a scene out of it, and the ambulance girls! Bad-freakin’-ass!  I felt everyone deserved some kinda somethin' for being so awesome...you know, some drinks or some shit bought for them…

As soon as I got home I put up a quick little post about it.  It got a buncha likes and loves, so I felt like writing a better version of it now.

(I just found out through my other post that one of the ambulance girls was Sharon Pol. Because of all the times I have seen her around, I was glad to be able to put a name to her face, although next time I see her, I’ll have no idea what it is ‘cause names aren’t my thing.  Anyone who reads this who knows her, please tell her lots that she's awesome!)