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Jenny Schon
January 25, 2026 — 3:59pm
An Ellenbrook pharmacist has saved the life of a stranger just days after completing a first aid refresher course.
Father-of-two Joseph Cartledge suffered a heart attack while serving a customer at a Woodlake Village Shopping Centre bottleshop on Tuesday night.
Nearby pharmacist Joshua O’Neil rushed in to help, performing CPR on the man behind the till until paramedics arrived before heading back to work at the pharmacy.
“I’d actually done my CPR refresher training the Thursday before,” O’Neil said.
“I was mainly just keeping it together as best as I could until one of the people who had been there came in and said he did survive, he’s on the way to hospital, and you saved his life because you started soon enough.
“That was the closest I came to breaking down a little bit.”
Cartledge is recovering at Royal Perth Hospital’s intensive care unit after coming out of an induced coma.
He had a heartfelt message to the stranger who saved him: “He’s a true legend, a life-saver, and a wonderful soul.”
The pair shook hands as they reunited on Saturday.
“Thank you for making me feel better and alive,” Cartledge said.
His son was grateful for the chance to make more memories with his dad.
“Anything can happen at any time, life can creep up on you, we’re not always going to be 20. It’s probably good to at any chance you can just love your parents and give them a hug,” Jonas Cartledge said.
All involved are now calling for defibrillators to be easier to access around pharmacies so help is never far away in an emergency.
“There are already other emergency situations like anaphylactic reactions, using an epipen, or ventolin for an asthma attack,” O’Neil said.
“You know if you need care quickly you can go to a pharmacy and they have it. I feel like a defibrillator is a pretty crucial step that could be added that could make a massive difference in terms of survival.”
The shopping centre is set to install a defibrillator next week.
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