ATHOL — David Davis spent 20 years as a sheriff's deputy and never once had to perform CPR. But when his wife's life was on the line during a cardiac event, he remembered his training.

"I never thought my wife would be the first person I performed CPR for," David said. 

Three years ago, Cynthia Davis was at their home near the Remington Ranch area in Athol when David called 911 and began the life-saving repetitions to keep her heart beating until help arrived.

Something the couple learned later, however, was that firefighters from both Timberlake Fire Protection District stations were already deployed to other emergency calls.

"There was nobody to respond, so the first fireman that actually showed up was grocery shopping at the Super 1 grocery store in Athol and dumped all his groceries and came to our house to help out," David said. 

At that point, David had administered CPR for 20 minutes, but it felt like forever.

"The problem was, he had a radio with him, and that was it," David said. "He was a fantastic help. It was amazing when he showed up and took over CPR for me."

Eventually, reinforcements arrived with a defibrillator. 

After Cynthia recovered, the family turned to ways to thank the department for its aid.

Through family connections, Cynthia had a drawing of Smokey Bear to offer Jack Duclos in thanks for helping save her life.

"He was an amazing individual who we are extremely grateful for his professionalism, caring and his sincerity during those moments," David said.

However, just saying thank you wasn't enough for David. 

He inquired about extra defibrillators on hand at the department in case off-duty firefighters needed them when both stations were out on calls, and was told there wasn't enough money to buy more. 

"It got me thinking, 'Gosh, if I could buy some of these things and give them to whoever is on stand, on call, at home, whatever, take these home with you,'" David said.

So the Davis family decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to equip the department with more defibrillators.

David has also uploaded the Ring camera footage from their home, which captured the medical episode, to help raise awareness of cardiac events like Cynthia's.

"I took that video and made something to encourage people to learn CPR," David said.

People wanting to help fund defibrillators for the Timberlake Fire Protection District can do so at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-timberlake-responders-save-lives-faster.

    Cynthia Davis, David Davis and their dog, Jaxx.