Jan. 14 began relatively uneventfully for Mike Comegys.
The 70-year-old was home alone with his dog, enjoying his Friday and thinking about his late mother, whose birthday it was, when he began feeling pains in his arm and chest.
Soon, Comegys was short of breath – all signs he recognized from a heart attack he’d suffered in 2009. Calmly, he dialed 911 and described his symptoms to the call-taker, who asked if he wanted her to stay on the line.
“No, I think I’m fine,” Comegys said before hanging up and calling his wife.
Within about 15 minutes, Comegys’ heart had stopped. He’d had a “massive heart attack,” said New Castle County Paramedic Kristina Shorb. Shorb was one of four emergency medical personnel who responded to Comegys’ home that day.
Quickly, paramedics jumped into action, performing CPR and shocking him with a defibrillator. After about 2½ tense minutes, they brought Comegys back to life. But after transferring him to the care of hospital staff, they knew nothing else of the 70-year-old’s condition.
On Thursday, Comegys was reunited with the two Hockessin Fire Company emergency medical technicians and the two New Castle County paramedics who saved him.
As he hugged the first responders, he smiled wide. Despite describing himself as a dispassionate person, he held back the threat of tears. He said there was nothing that made him “more happy than to meet these folks.”
“Thanks to their quick response and what they did with their expertise and skills, they brought me back and gave me a second chance at life,” Comegys said. “How many people can say that?”
