MONROE — Karen Krenzel could only make a phone call last March when her husband, Rich, suffered a medical emergency, and hope that those responding could save his life.
Her husband, Rich, suffered a massive heart attack and stopped breathing at the family’s Monroe home. Karen called for an ambulance and waited in fear that her husband wasn’t going to make it.
With the help of her neighbor, Thomas Gawron, and a team of Monroe Township First Aid Squad members and paramedics from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, RichKrenzel lived to celebrate the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary.
In hopes that these lifesavers would receive some recognition for their hard work and compassion, Karen sent a letter to Mayor Richard Pucci telling him of the events of March 29.
Council President Gerald Tamburro read the letter aloud during the council’s July 26 meeting.
The emotional letter not only thanked the service providers, but it also commended the mayor and council for choosing to have defibrillators available on first aid squad equipment throughout the township.
“That decision not only saved Rich’s life, butmany others in our community,” Karen said in her letter.
Gawron, their neighbor, is a correction officer at the New Jersey Training School for Boys in Monroe, and is trained for emergency situations.
“Thomas is not just an average neighbor. He was there when we needed him and he went way above any expectations one could have,” Karen said.
Gawron was able to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Krenzel immediately after he lost consciousness. He revived Krenzel before the ambulance arrived, Karen said, adding that she has been told by all the professionals involved that Gawron saved her husband’s life.
“None of us could have imagined those skills would have been put to the test that night,” she said.
Gawron, along with members of the first aid squad, were presented with awards from Pucci and Judy Olbrys, head of Monroe Township first aid.
“You’re a shining example of what it is to be a part of our community in a very special way,” Pucci told Gawron.
First aid squad members Thomas Geary, Richard Morris, Austin Pronin, Steve Wachstein and Kevin Wagner, as well as high school volunteer Jake O’Brien, were also acknowledged. And paramedics Sharon Anthony and Nick Simzak from Robert Wood Johnson Hospital were honored for their efforts.
“Iwill never forget the speed in which they arrived, the compassion they showed for Rich, aswell as for me, and the genuine concern they had for Rich’s well-being and mine,” Karen Krenzel said.
Pucci commended the emergency service workers for their efforts and constant professionalism in responding to the 8,000 service calls that Monroe receives on average each year.
“We are saying thank you for a very special thing that you did, but we certainly know that so many of you do it day in and day out in so many instances,” he said. “It’s one of the more difficult jobs in the community.”
Council members shared their gratitude and expressed their joy in seeing Rich Krenzel at the meeting.
“You [first aid] provide a service that is lifesaving. Somehow ‘thank you’just doesn’t seem to do it,” Councilwoman Leslie Koppel said. “When you see families and the kids and the smiles on the faces of the lives that you’ve saved, it’s really beyond words.”
“It has been said that if you help one person, you help the whole world. You did that far beyond any expectations,” Councilman Irwin Nalitt said.