heart attack
© bcove.me
An Ottawa police officer who had pulled over a senior citizen for speeding told the man he was "bullshitting" when the 65-year-old said he was trying to get to the nearest phone to call an ambulance as soon as possible.

Veragoda Parera and his wife Nalini were driving home after he had completed a routine dialysis treatment on the afternoon of October 15 when he started experiencing chest pains, numbness on the left side of his body and a tingling chin.

The man has had heart problems for over a decade; has suffered a heart attack and undergone open-heart surgery in the past.

The couple got concerned at the symptoms that Veragoda recognized all too well.

His wife suggested that they drive to a nearby gas station because their cell phone battery was dead.

Moments later he realized there was a police car following him - at first he felt relieved that he could explain his symptoms to the officer who would surely be sympathetic.

Instead the cop told him he was doing 105 km/h in a 70 km/h zone.

When Veragoda explained it was a medical emergency Constable Frank Perron refused to believe him and said that he suspected the veteran civilian was feigning the condition.

According to the law, when a person claims they are having a medical issue the officer is required to call paramedics straightaway.

However, Perron took his sweet time before he called for medical assistance.

The Pareras waited at least 10 minutes while the cop prepared a $265 ticket.

During this time Veragoda had to spray nitroglycerin twice under his tongue to get blood pumping back into his heart.

When the officer returned with the ticket, the couple requested him again to call for an ambulance - this time he agreed.

As if the earlier humiliation was not enough, he told Veragoda and his wife, who was so distraught she was crying, that he would arrest the man if he was faking an emergency.

Perron held up handcuffs as he said this.

It turns out that the discourteous cop was proved wrong because not only was the man treated on site with an oxygen mask and more nitro tablets, he had to be taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of angina.

We now know that Perron is an aspiring author.

Ironically, he is writing a book about the justifications motorists offer when they are pulled over for speeding.

Most likely, in his mind the Pareras were pretending too.

For him they must have been like the drivers who have told him in the past that they were driving to the beat of the music, were in a hurry to get a fish or rushing home to put the baby to sleep.

Nonetheless, it is disappointing that the cop who has been with the force for 12 years may have been more concerned for the material of his book than a civilian who may have died had he not been carrying his own nitroglycerin.

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