Ken Sloan is back in full swing, serving up balls on the pickleball court at the Waterloo racquet club, The Club at Northfield. But about four years ago, he had almost played his last game. “I went for a shot, and my heart stopped right on the spot,” Sloan told CTV News. Assistant pickleball professional, Andy Taylor, was there that day. “It was scary,” Taylor recalled. “Ken fell backwards, and people noticed right away. Tom jumped into action right away.” Tom Granton, who was playing a few courts over, noticed Ken go down and ran over. “He was not breathing,” Granton noted. “[I] knelt down, noticed there was no pulse, and I just knew I had to apply CPR.” Sloan’s heart may not have been ticking, but time was. “At that point, I had less than a ten per cent chance of survival,” Sloan said. Granton was previously an officer with Waterloo Regional Police for 30 years. “I was trained in CPR. We had to be re-certified every year,” he said. Even during his three decades on the job, Granton said he had never had to perform CPR before. “Even after retirement, after 18 years, I never used CPR. Ken was the first time I’ve ever used it,” he said. While Granton performed CPR, he said other players called 911 and went to collect the defibrillator. Eight minutes later he said paramedics arrived, “using the Defib eight times to Ken, and then he was finally brought up. And when he was finally being wheeled out, he did had life back in this [body].” About five weeks after his heart attack, Sloan suffered a stroke and began his rehab journey for both traumas. “My right arm didn’t work anymore. So then it was just a matter of doing the normal things but getting my cardio up and stretching and that sort of thing,” Sloan said. Pickleball remains one of Sloan’s consistent cardio activities and Monday marked his first time back at the Waterloo racquet club. “It’s pretty surreal, actually,” he said. As the group of more than 20 pickleball athletes played their games Monday afternoon, Sloan saw many familiar faces in the group that has come to know each other well. “We’re all friends here, almost like family members. And I did what anybody else would have done. I just happened to be the first,” Granton said. Encouraging CPR certifications Now, the group is advocating for more people to learn the life-saving skill. “Just learn CPR,” Granton encouraged. “It could be a family member, an uncle, a child, a good friend. You just never know when you might use it.” “The only reason I’m alive here and moving around is because he kept circulation going in my body,” Sloan added. At the time of Sloan’s heart attack, the racket club had a different name and a different owner. Current owner and general manager of The Club at Northfield, Hillary Salvian, said after hearing Sloan’s story, she is planning to have all staff trained on CPR. “It’s reminded us of the importance of keeping everyone safe,” Salvian told CTV News. “We’ve got a wide range of ages that play here, and it’s awesome to see some of the retired people out on the pickleball courts all day, every day.” Salvian said since she has taken over, the club has also added another defibrillator with two now on site.
