May 6, 2025
KUALA LUMPUR – A 55-year-old man who collapsed at Kuching International Airport in Malaysia’s Sarawak state is alive today, thanks to the actions of a young woman who stepped in to help without hesitation.
His family is now searching for the unidentified woman who performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the unconscious man for 30 minutes and helped bring him back from the brink of death.
The medical emergency occurred at around 11.30am on April 30 in the airport’s domestic arrival hall.
Mr Law, who is from Sibu, Sarawak, collapsed without warning shortly after his flight had landed.
The woman, who happened to be behind him, immediately started administering CPR and did not stop until help arrived.
An automated external defibrillator (AED) was used during her efforts, delivering two shocks that converted Mr Law’s pulseless ventricular fibrillation to atrial fibrillation – a heart rhythm that allowed his circulation to resume.
Dr Tang Sie Hing, an interventional cardiologist in Kuching, later shared the incident in a Facebook post at the request of Mr Law’s family.
“They want to thank her for what she did,” he wrote.
According to Dr Tang, Mr Law, whose full name was not revealed, had been experiencing chest and stomach pain for three days following a recent trip to China.
Although he underwent a medical scope examination in Sibu on April 29, his symptoms worsened by 2am the next day. Hoping to get further treatment, he boarded a flight to Kuching on his own on that morning.
Following his collapse and the good Samaritan’s intervention at the airport, Mr Law was rushed to Sarawak General Hospital where a CT scan ruled out a brain haemorrhage. Doctors suspected it had been a severe cardiac event.
At the family’s request, Mr Law was transferred to Timberland Medical Centre, a private hospital in Kuching.
There, an emergency coronary angiogram revealed that two of Mr Law’s arteries were completely blocked.
An urgent coronary angioplasty was performed, and his condition has stabilised.
According to Dr Tang, Mr Law has regained full consciousness and, remarkably, has shown no signs of neurological impairment.
The family is now appealing to the public for help in identifying the woman who saved Mr Law. They hope to thank her in person for her extraordinary act.
Dr Tang underscored the importance of knowing CPR and acting quickly in medical emergencies, saying: “Without her intervention, the outcome would have been totally unimaginable.”