Many thanks
To the editor:
I am telling this story because it needs to be told. How often do you read the paper or read the news and there is nothing but bad news? This is a good news story. I will try to make it brief so you don’t lose interest.
On Dec. 27, 2010, a day I will never forget, I had family down from Illinois for Christmas. My husband Nick and brother-in-law Raymond decided they would take Nick’s truck and go to Lowes on Pine Island Road and pick up some flooring we had looked at. They didn’t have enough of it and they said Lowes on Veterans Parkway had the amount we needed. My sister and I went shopping and the guys took off to Lowes. They stopped for gas on the way.
Nick and Raymond started loading the flooring on a cart and they were ready to take it up front to pay, but Nick stopped to look at some transition strips. He knelt down to piece some together, slid his glasses down to see more clearly, leaned forward slightly and fell to the ground.
Raymond watched him fall, then Nick gasped a couple times for air. At that point it was apparent he was not breathing. Also Nick had no pulse.
Raymond had worked as a volunteer fireman years ago in Illinois, so he reacted as he knew. He began CPR on Nick and was shaking very much and nervous about doing CPR on someone so close to his heart.
Thank you Raymond with my heart and soul for keeping Nick alive. A Lowes employee named Rob, who was close by, asked Raymond if he would like for him to take over, and Raymond said yes. Another employee named Bobby held his head in the proper position. These guys jumped in without hesitation. Someone from the store called 911 and seeming like an eternity (but not really) the paramedics relieved Rob.’
Also, thank you Rob and Bobby, with my heart and soul for keeping Nick alive.
The paramedics continued on CPR as they set up for the portable defibulator. They began to use the portable defibulator and started shocking my husband’s heart. This went on for a while, and Raymond and Rob continued about 10 times. Still nothing. They loaded Nick into the ambulance and drove off.
Raymond, in the meantime, had to make that call to his wife, Rena, my sister, and I, who were at home and just got back from shopping. I listened as Rena was talking to Raymond, and picking up words that something was wrong. She got off the phone and told me it didn’t sound good. Nick had gone down at Lowes, giving him CPR, and been shocked 10 times with the portable defibulator, and they were taking him to Cape Coral Hospital
I was frantic and asking my sister if he would be all right and how many times would they shock him before they would give up. It ended up they shocked him 12 times total. Rena did know know and said we needed to get to the hospital, but before we left, she knelt down in front of the couch and began to pray. She also called her pastor from back home up north and asked him if he would pray for my husband, and could he ask God for a miracle. He said he would pray but it would be God’s will for a miracle.
Rena and I headed for Cape Coral Hospital emergency room. We got there and waited for some news. It seemed like a lifetime, and someone did finally come out and told us they were working on him. Nick had a pulse and blood pressure and that’s all they could tell us. I finally got to go in and see him and he was not awake and on a ventilator. Although it looked bad, I knew he would be all right. Nick was in critical condition and they did not know why he was still here after his heart stopped at Lowes.
I told the nurse I knew why he was still here, you don’t understand the love we have between us and the faith. He would not leave me behind, not yet, it’s not his time. She just looked at me kind of strange, but I knew in my heart Nick would be OK.
As it turned out, he was OK. He was in ICU for a week but they took the vent out in three days and he was holding his own. He was transferred to HealthPark for a heart catheterization test and was there for two days. The test showed nothing wrong with his heart, it was perfectly normal. The doctors still had no answers why this happened to my husband how he survived. They put a defibulator in the next day as a precautionary measure. He went home the next day, and today, Jan. 17, he is back to work on light duty for a while. Nick is a carpenter for Lee Memorial Health System and has been for 20 something years.
I still live with that fear of why it happened and will it happen again, but I know we have been blessed with a miracle and a second chance to live our lives.
I owe all my thanks to No. 1, God, and my family and friends’ support. I just want to thank Cape Coral Hospital and HealthPark Medical Center for all the care and all the doctors and nurses. I especially want to thank Rob, Bobby, and my brother-in-law Raymond for starting the CPR at Lowes. I wan to thank all the EMS people for not giving up on my sweetie. You are the heroes.
Raymond and Rena missed their flight back home and booked another as a last- minute deal just to stay and see Nick stable. My other sister Tina and her husband Terry drove straight through from Illinois to be here for us.
There are still good people out there in our community that care for one another and go the extra mile to help the ones in need. I just want you all to know how grateful and thankful I am for you all. May God bless you.
Patty Yeugelowitz
Cape Coral