Submitted by J. Hudson on Fri, 21/06/2024 - 10:48
Many of you may not know that in November 2022, while presenting at the General Assembly of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe in Malta, Milorad collapsed having suffered a cardiac arrest on stage. In his own words, he "literally died and came back to life”.
The day before he was elected as president of EVRI and almost ended up as the being the shortest president of any veterinary organisation. It was thanks to the quick actions of his veterinary colleagues, medical professionals, and hotel staff that Milorad survived. Nine colleagues immediately started CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, continuing for 25 minutes until medics arrived. Simultaneously, others behind the scene, went to his room for medical history, contacted his family and followed the ambulance taking him to the hospital. This life-affirming event continues to deeply impact Milorad and the whole of FVE, and now the group of people are referred to as Milorad’s 'Guardian Angels and FVE heroes’.
Milorad and his 'Angels' wrote a story about the experience in the news section of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe website with a few important One Health messages for Vets and others. The resounding message is, If anyone faces a situation to carry out CPR on people be confident and persistent – it is hard work but very rewarding to be stubborn especially if a life can be saved. This was the welcome message at this year's FVE GA on 14 June 2024 in Crete presented by Milorad and Heidi, one of the Angels on behalf of all. To read Milorad's story click here.