FOND DU LAC – A 22-year-old Marian University student saved a life one hour after her pinning ceremony at the local nursing program.
The life Cassie Kuenzi helped save was that of retired nurse Sandra Caliva, 67, of Fond du Lac.
And Cassie got help performing CPR when her mother, also a nurse, arrived at the scene.
The alignment of fates occurred at about 6:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, at Blanck’s Lake Aire Supper Club near Van Dyne.
Jim Caliva was alongside his wife when she suffered a mild stroke and collapsed.
Sandra Caliva said she remembers being at the restaurant and then nothing until she woke up in the emergency room at St. Agnes Hospital.
Cassie Kuenzi was headed to the restaurant to meet her family to celebrate her graduation from Marian’s nursing program.
On the ground
“I got there first with my boyfriend and brother,” Cassie recalled. “My boyfriend pointed out someone was on the ground. I went over there. She was unresponsive. I started doing CPR and about two minutes later my mom arrived.
“I was like, ‘I guess it is better to save someone now than later.’ I did not really think about the moment. I just knew I had to save her life.”
Cassie first tried getting a reaction by calling out Sandra’s name. She then checked the woman and realized she was not breathing and did not have a pulse.
As her boyfriend dialed 911, Cassie began CPR.
“My mom didn’t realize I was on the ground doing CPR. … She ran over and said, ‘I am a nurse. I know two-person CPR. What can I do to help?’” Cassie said. “I looked up and said, ‘Mom, you can do airway and I will do compressions. We then got a pulse back.”
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office Deputy James Borgen arrived and hooked an automated external defibrillator (AED) to Sandra Caliva. No shocks were given but the device was used to monitor the woman until North Fond du Lac ambulance arrived at the scene.
Dorothy Kuenzi, Cassie’s mother, is a registered nurse at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah.
“We saved a nurse?” Dorothy Kuenzi said during an interview with The Reporter. “That is pretty cool.”
Recovery
Jim Caliva said his wife showed no signs of illness the day she collapsed.
The couple had attended their grandson’s Christmas pageant at Waters Elementary School earlier in the day that she suffered the stroke.
“I was shocked,” Jim Caliva said. “I don’t know where that came from. She was feeling fine all day.”
Sandra Caliva spent Christmas at St. Agnes Hospital.
The stroke weakened the right side of her body.
“The physical therapy is going good,” Sandra said. “It’s amazing that two nurses helped one nurse that was down.”
Sandra Caliva retired in September after working for 36 years at St. Joseph Convent. She now volunteers at Hospice Hope.
“It’s gratifying to help somebody else,” Sandra said of her career choice as a nurse.
On Dec. 16, she needed the help of others to survive.
“I had guardian angels there,” she said. “God had a plan.”
