Juliet Murphy and Darcy Power have been best friends quite literally since the day they were born.

“We are actually born on the same day and at the same hospital and our parents, well our Dads, grew up together,” boasts Juliet, “so we just kind of naturally bonded”.

During a playdate on Saturday, that bond for the 11 year olds became even stronger at Barrhaven’s Furness Park at the corner of Amarillo Drive and Lydia Way.

“We went on a bike ride to the park,” says Darcy.

After playing for a bit, they decided to head back to Juliet’s house in the neighbourhood when they noticed something just wasn’t right,

“We saw a man on the road,” Darcy said.

The man, believed to be in his 60’s, was laying on his back the girls say, half on the road and half on the sidewalk, his phone was on the ground just out of his arm’s reach.

“We thought he may be faking and trying to grab kids,” Darcy worried.

“So then I just told her to be cautious and look and see if anything is suspicious,” Juliet warned her friend,

“We said hello,” Darcy adds, “he wasn’t breathing.”

The girls say they started to feel panicked. So they worked out a plan.

“We parked our bikes in the middle of the street and we looked at him just trying to decide what to do,” said Darcy.

Darcy decided to stay on guard while Juliet ran to a friend’s house down the street for help, but no one was home.

“So I just yelled to Darcy ‘go to the closest door and ring the doorbell!’”

Darcy did just that, but no one was home there either.

That’s when the pair spotted two men down the street and ran to them asking for help.

“At first though they didn’t kind of believe us,” says Juliet, “and we’re like ya we’re serious.”

One man then called to the other to dial 9-1-1 and asked the girls to go home where they would be safe.

“We were rushing, we were biking as fast as we could,” remembers Darcy.

While the men and other bystanders ran to perform CPR, the girls decided to stay down the street and help direct incoming emergency crews.

“We were very nervous,” Darcy said, “but the thing that troubled me most was is that man going to be okay.”

Ottawa Paramedic Superintendent Marc-Antoine Deschamps says when paramedics arrived they continued resuscitation efforts, using a defibrillator and medication to restart the man’s heart. The patient was in critical condition on the way to hospital. His condition now is unknown.

Deschamps, meeting the girls for the first time on Tuesday, says their actions made a difference in the man’s life.

“It’s a team effort and the first chain in the survival is the early recognition and contacting 9-1-1 which is exactly what those two young ladies did.”

The girls are just praying the man will be ok.

“He was in his 60’s so that’s not a full life yet,” says Darcy,

“He has to enjoy it,” adds Juliet.

As for the thought of being called heroes,

“We tend to believe it,” laughs Juliet, “we just wanted to help”,

“And we’re ready to do it again if anybody needs help,” says Darcy.