This 54-year-old woman’s heart stopped completely in the parking lot of a supermarket in Orewa, New Zealand.
A stranger didn’t hesitate and performed CPR on her until the paramedics arrived. Doctors later told her family that she had been, in their own words, “technically dead” before they managed to stabilize her. While she fought for her life in an ambulance, her car remained parked outside the store for almost six hours. That was long enough for the automated system of the company Smart Compliance Management to issue her a fine of nearly 50 dollars for exceeding the free 90-minute limit.
When the family appealed by providing the medical reports, the company refused to cancel the penalty and only offered to reduce it to 18 dollars for “administrative costs”. Public outrage grew until the supermarket owner intervened, paid the fine out of their own pocket, and demanded explanations. Only then did the company back down, cancel the penalty, and apologize. She is already recovering at home, unaware that they almost charged her for having been dying.