A man was stabbed 13 times in 1994. It took almost 30 years to find one of the paramedics who saved him

By Sara Smart, CNN

After searching for eight years, a man finally found one of the paramedics who saved his life nearly 30 years ago.

Dave Murphy, from Calgary, a city in Canadian province of Alberta, got into an altercation in March 1994 outside of the Bayshore Shopping Centre in Ottawa.

He was stabbed 13 times. One of those stabbings missed his heart by half an inch.

“If [the paramedics] had been six minutes later, I would’ve bled out,” Murphy told CNN Friday.

Following the altercation, Murphy was bedridden for nearly six months, had to relearn how to walk and battled severe PTSD.

After a long recovery, both physically and mentally, Murphy began searching for the paramedics in 2015 with a blog post. “I’ve decided to try and track down any of the first responders that saved my life in 1994,” it read.

Over the years Murphy reached out to many offices he thought could help but led mostly to dead ends.

He continued to post once a year in hopes to find at least one of the paramedics. Eight years later, he still had no luck.

On January 20, he posted once more to Twitter. “I gave it one last try and it worked!” Murphy said.

Just six days later he was put in contact with one of the paramedics who saved his life that day, Joanne Overton McGregor.

“She sent me a picture of herself, and I dropped the phone,” Murphy said.

“That very first reaction for me, my heart stopped, because he was so sure.” McGregor told Newsgathering partner CTV.

Since then, the two have talked every day, and eventually met on a video call on January 29.

“It was pretty emotional with my 8-year-old and wife next to me,” Murphy said.

Murphy introduced his family to McGregor, who discovered she shares a passion for painting with Murphy’s daughter.

The new friends live nearly 2,000 miles apart, but Murphy hopes to meet soon in person.

During his journey to find the first responders, Murphy was put in touch with both a nurse and doctor who tended to him in the operating room after the attack. Two detectives who worked on the case also reached out to Murphy.

The plan is to have a giant barbeque with everyone over the summer.

Murphy’s first responders also inspired him to change his life in 2018.

At the time he was pushing 400 pounds and decided to set a goal for himself. For every pound he lost, Murphy would donate one dollar to military veterans and first responders through Can Praxis.

Now, he has lost 175 pounds. “It is my way of paying them back for saving my life in 1994,” Murphy wrote in a blog post last year.

The incident not only motivated him to lose weight and give back, but now has given him a lifelong friend.

“I feel like I know them already,” McGregor told CTV. “I feel like this is going to be a lifelong friendship.”

The-CNN-Wire
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