Construction Worker Thanks the FDNY Members Who Saved His Life

An ironworker visited a Brooklyn firehouse on Friday to shake hands with a group of heroes that saved his life this month after he nearly died of a heart attack on the job.

With his 12-year-old daughter clutching his hip, John Stalzer, 51, walked into Engine Co. 221 in Williamsburg to a round of applause from firefighters and paramedics who had brought him back to life just weeks before.

“I’m very lucky to be here,” an emotional Stalzer told the Bravest team. “Thank you. Without you guys, I wouldn’t be here . . . You made my wife and my family a beautiful Christmas.”

Stalzer was poring over a set of blueprints on Dec. 13 at a Roebling St. construction site where workers are building a new site for EMS Station 35, which is currently located near Woodhull Hospital.

Suddenly, about 8:45 a.m., Stalzer told a co-worker he felt ill and passed out. Stalzer’s son, Robert, 25, was also working at the site and quickly called 911 as a colleauge began to perform CPR.

“His son was very broken up,” said one responder, John Capunay, an EMT at Station 35. “He was very upset.”

Rescue workers arrived within minutes and used a defibrilator to bring back a pulse.

“His construction buddies were rooting for him,” said fellow EMT Shaemus Rand, 32. “I don’t know if that does anything . . . but he had a lot of support.”

Medics were immediately in touch with a specialized doctor, who directed them to take Stalzer to Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. A team of cardiologists was waiting for Stalzer at the door and rushed him into surgery to implant a coronary stent.

“Those quick actions helped revive him,” said Brian Frayne, one of the paramedics who responded. “We saved him from having that heart attack.”

And, ultimately, they gave the Long Island man a very special holiday season, one that may not have been if the rescue team arrived any later.

“I feel very thankful,” said Stalzer’s teary-eyed daughter, Brianna. “If he wasn’t here I’d feel really sad, because he’s always been there for me.”

“It’s fabulous,” Stalzer said. “I was very grateful to be here with my wife and kids.”

Stalzer — who only remembers waking up from the hospital the day after his heart attack — said his chest was still sore from the CPR compressions, but was otherwise feeling better.

He also laughed that he was the first ambulance ride out of the new EMS station.

“I didn’t plan on being the first victim out of there,” he said with a smile.

Source: Joe Kemp, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS