“.22 is better than nothing, but .45 would have made a shorter story...”
Not necessarily; a .45 will knock you down and stop you, but typically will not completely penetrate bone and most American belly fat, believe it or not.
While a .45 head or heart shot is lethal, a .22 will go clear through you, unless it hits bone and then it will rattle all through you. A .22 LR will do this from 400 yards or more.
In a gun fight, a .22 is no joke.
A 22 won’t penetrate very far...about 5-10 inches, which is well under most handgun ammo.
http://www.brassfetcher.com/index_files/22LR.htm
But an 8 shot revolver or 10-shot semi-auto can make 8-10 holes in pretty short order, and do so accurately. A Ruger 10/22 is light, easy to learn & shoot, and would make lots of 5-10” holes.
Missing with a 357 doesn’t do any good, so it depends on how much a person is willing to practice and what they feel comfortable shooting. I’ve never met a person who wasn’t comfortable shooting a 22...met lots who sucked with a 45 or 357.