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Christina Alfonzo and her family are searching for a bystander who helped save her life last Wednesday.

Christina, a 28-year-old medical student at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, suffered a life-threatening stroke on her walk home from the Civic campus around 5 p.m.

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She experienced severe neck pain, dizziness, impaired vision, arm pain and a numb lip; she knew she was having a stroke.

Minutes away from passing out, Christina recognized her symptoms and began to wave for help at passing carssomewhere around Winding Lane, near the experimental farm.

In her time of need, a Good Samaritan, driving a small, black car came to her rescue. He stopped, quickly assessed the situation and drove her back to the hospital where she was rushed into surgery.

“All she remembers is the man asking if she was a diabetic and apologizing for the traffic,” said Pedro Alfonzo, Christina’s brother.

Christina couldn’t see very well by time the bystander got to her, but she describes the man who helped save her life as “someone around her age, perhaps in their late 20s,” according to Pedro.