HEART ATTACK SURVIVOR SAVED BY PASSING NURSE AND FIREFIGHTERS GIVES THANKS TO HIS RESCUERS

Victim found with no pulse, not breathing, and without identification -- hospital traced identity through running shoes and IPOD

June 8, 2011 (Spring Valley ) – “There was no warning. I was just running—and then I woke up in the hospital,” says Grant Fleener, 60, who collapsed from a heart attack suddenly while on his morning run on Sweetwater Springs Blvd. on April 29. Yesterday, he returned to San Miguel Fire Station to thank a passerby,  firefighters and paramedics who all helped saved his life.

Fortunately for Fleener, registered nurse Christy Enos was on her way to a coffee shop when she spotted him “curled up in a ball around a light pole.” She made a U-turn and stopped to render aid, starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

A 911 call was also made to summon paramedics. San Miguel Fire Battalion Chief Mike Stein heard the call and happened to be just seconds away, returning to the fire station just a block away from where the victim had fallen hard.  He was the first emergency responder at the scene.
 

“Chief Stein and I turned him over and started CPR,” said Enos, who said she performed CPR for about two minutes before paramedics arrived on scene—managing to move oxygenated blood into vital organs, preventing brain damage that can occur swiftly in such circumstances.

Paramedics delivered a shock using a defibrillator to restore a stable pulse. “That lifted you about four inches off the guerney,” paramedic John Brzostkiewicz informed Fleener, who peered inside the ambulance but says he can’t recall anything that occurred until he awoke days later at Grossmont Hospital. “You were fighting pretty good.”
 

Fleener’s wife, Carlotta, knew something was wrong immediately when she returned hom from lunch with friends hours later. The garage door was open and her husband’s wallet, keys and phone were inside—but he was nowhere to be found.
 

Since Fleener has previously suffered a seizure, she became concerned and started calling hospitals asking if her husband—or any seizure patient matching his description—had been admitted. Multiple hospitals told her no, including the very hospital where he’d been admitted not with a seizure, but a heart attack.
 

Fortunately, Carlotta reveals, “The nurses over at Grossmont traced him through his IPOD, which was registered, and also on his shoe there was a registration from a previous event.”
 

Emergency officials point out that the incident highlights the importance of always carrying identification in case of emergency. It’s also wise to carry a phone and program in an “ICE” (in case of emergency) listing for who you would want contacted.
 

Once released from the hospital, Fleener reached out to show appreciation for those who gave him a new lease on life. The Fleener and Enos families have met and had dinner together—and yesterday he participated in a press conference to publicly thank the rescuers who saved him.
 

Fleener was in training for San Diego’s AFC half marathon at the time he collapsed. “My son and I did it last year,” he recalled, adding that he already paid for this year’s event but is doubtful he will be able to participate since he's still regaining  nis strength. He hasn’t inquired about a refund, but says he’s not concerned about the money—since he and his wife now have greater appreciation for the important things in life.
 

“I think I’m going to be out $100,” the avid runner and heart attack survivor concluded, “But I’m alive.”