Saved By Strangers: Reuniting the People Who Saved Marek Widomski

When Anna Widomska stopped an Ottawa Police Service Community Police Officer in the ByWard Market on a late August afternoon, she had almost given up hope of ever finding who she was looking for.

“I wonder if you can help me find the people who saved my father’s life?” she asked.

Determined to help Anna, Sergeant Sébastien Lemay reached out to partners at the Ottawa Paramedic Service and the Ottawa Police Communications team to begin the search for the bystander heroes.

What began as a quiet conversation on a busy street would soon unfold into a powerful story of survival, gratitude, and the strength of a community coming together.

Seeing her father again

At the end of the summer, Marek Widomski collapsed on an Ottawa sidewalk — just a day before he was meant to fly out West and see his daughter for the first time in 13 years.

Thanks to the strangers who stopped to help, performing CPR and using a defibrillator, Anna got to see her father again.

“The last time I saw him 13 years ago would have been my last memory of seeing him if these people hadn’t saved his life,” she said.

Though the reunion took place in an Ottawa hospital, it gave Anna the chance to be by her father’s side, spend time with her relatives, and reconnect with her family.

“Seeing a wall”

“I remember I was just walking in the Market,” Marek said, his Polish accent warm and heavy with gratitude. “I remember seeing a wall, then feeling like my heart was going to explode out of my chest — and then nothing.”

Moments later, a group of bystanders rushed to his side. Among them, someone knew CPR. Another found a building’s defibrillator. After a six minute call with a paramedic dispatcher, the ambulance arrived.

“I remember the feeling of being crushed over and over again,” Marek recalled, realizing now that he was regaining consciousness as CPR was being performed. “I felt the shocks, and then everything started coming back.“

“I saw a man kneeling next to me, smiling. He said, ‘You know, this machine saved your life.’”

Two bystanders, Nicholas Firman and Enoch Kwakye, provided life-saving measures to Mr. Widomski while waiting for paramedics.

It’s been a slow recovery since that day, but a hopeful one. Marek lives with a new pacemaker — a state-of-the-art device that connects wirelessly to the Heart Institute, tracking every beat in real time. “They control my heart 100 percent now,” he said. “And I am just happy to be alive.”

A reunion 13 years in the making

In 1998, Marek left Vancouver for what he thought would be a short trip home to Poland. “Two weeks,” he said, shaking his head. “But I stayed 25 years.”

He built a life there — a partner, two more children, and a career as a chef in Kraków. But when the pandemic struck and tourism dried up, business collapsed. Then came the war in Ukraine, bringing more uncertainty and stress.

“Everything was going wrong,” Marek said. “My son said, ‘Dad, I want to go to Canada, to finish school, to live there.’ So we moved. Slowly, slowly, we started a new life again.”

Mr. Widomski joined Ottawa’s hospitality scene for several years before retiring this past January. He was supposed to visit his daughter Anna in Vancouver at the end of the summer.

The family had already booked hotels and flights.

“We had everything planned,” said Anna. “It’s surreal to think — twelve hours later, he would have been on a plane to visit me.”

“They Gave Me My Life Back”

For Marek, the most astonishing part of his story isn’t just surviving cardiac arrest — it’s how strangers, armed with training and a nearby AED, saved him.

“In Poland, every person learns first aid,” he explained. “It’s mandatory — when you finish school, you know how to help someone. Here, I was lucky. I found people who knew what to do.”

He’s since learned that not everyone in Canada receives that training. “It surprised me,” he said. “There are devices in many buildings — but how many people know how to use them?”

His daughter agrees. “Stories like this show why that knowledge matters,” Anna said. “You never think it’ll happen to your family, until it does.”

A Chance Encounter

After his collapse, Anna travelled from Vancouver to Ottawa to be by her father’s side.

“It had been thirteen years since I’d seen him,” she said softly. “It wasn’t the reunion I expected, but it was a blessing in disguise.”

While Marek was recovering, Anna and her brother visited the ByWard Market looking for the bystander heroes. She went from store to store but could not find anyone with information.

“It was like everything aligned,” Anna said about bumping into Sgt. Lemay. He was determined to do what he could to put her in contact with the people involved.

“I just want to thank them,” Marek said, smiling. “Because they deserve it. They gave me my life back.”

“Happy to be alive”

Marek still tires easily, his chest sore from CPR, his ribs fractured in the effort to restart his heart. But each day, he walks a little farther.

“Today I can go one hundred metres,” he said. “Tomorrow, maybe one hundred fifty. Slowly, slowly.” But Marek is quick to mention how grateful he is to be alive.

He hopes his story might inspire change, perhaps even spark a conversation about mandatory first aid training in schools.

“Life can stop in one second,” he said. “And if someone near you knows what to do, maybe you get another chance like me.”

A heartfelt thank you

Today, at the Ottawa Paramedic Service headquarters, Marek, along with his son Oliwier, finally met the people who saved his life.

The bystanders who acted without hesitation, the paramedics who responded and transported him to the hospital, the Ottawa Police members who helped them find their heroes — all gathered together in celebration.

With tears in his eyes, Marek hugged the bystanders who revived him, calling it a reunion he’ll never forget.

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We are looking for the contact information of a woman who stepped in and performed CPR on Mr. Widomski. If this is you, please reach out to [email protected]