Fast-acting neighbors save man’s life with quick CPR
By KATHY FERGUSON
Article published on Wednesday, March 15, 2006  |
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![[Image]](/content_images/031506_smb-02.jpg) |
| Photo courtesy of the SEMINOLE FIRE RESCUE DEPARTMENT |
| At the citizen recognition ceremony are, front row, firefighter and paramedic Angel Dean; middle row, from left, John and Sandy Rice, Bill and Del-Ann Wenzelburger; and back row, firefighter and EMT Mark Held, and Lt. Bill Schobel. |
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SEMINOLE – After an early Saturday afternoon trip to gas up a friend’s car, Bill Wenzelburger’s life took a sudden change in direction. The 71-year-old retiree fell onto his garage floor in a life or death struggle with a heart attack.
Before understanding the medical emergency, his wife, Del-Ann Wenzelburger, remembers feeling a little aggravated.
“After a couple of minutes when he didn’t come in from the garage, I thought he was off talking with neighbors,” she said.
Going out into the garage to tell him to hurry up, Mrs. Wenzelburger found her husband with his head underneath the car. She noticed something in his left leg’s unnatural position that alarmed her.
Realizing he had collapsed, she screamed for her friend to call 911 and ran to the neighbors, John and Sandy Rice. Thus began the race to save her husband’s life.
Mr. Rice was retired from the U.S. Coast Guard. Mrs. Rice was a retired nurse. They went to work performing CPR efficiently and immediately, Mrs. Wenzelburger said.
Moments later, the Seminole Fire Rescue crew arrived from Station 30. The responders told the neighbors they had done everything right. Defibrillation paddles shocked Mr. Wenzelburger’s heart, and he was rushed to the hospital.
He received a triple bypass operation and, a few days later, an implantable defibrillator which is a pacemaker device was put under the skin near the upper chest.
His doctor told him, “You are the luckiest man I know. I think I’ll take you to Las Vegas.”
Again, the Rice couple was complimented on their timely life-saving skills.
Del-Ann agrees with the critical role John and Sandy Rice played in saving her husband’s life.
“It’s so important that people learn CPR,” she said. “Some people think they can’t do CPR, but if they have to do it, they can.
“John and Sandy were with us through the entire process. I would encourage everyone to get to know their neighbors.”
Mrs. Rice helped the Wenzelburgers understand the medical jargon at the hospital.
To honor the Rices and rescue crew, a recognition ceremony was held at Station 30 on Saturday, March 11.
“It isn’t everyday that something like this happens,” said Alison McCarty, the fire district’s public information officer. “Mr. Wenzelburger was in full cardiac arrest. He had little chance of survival without the help of John and Sandy Rice.”
Learning CPR is crucial, McCarty said.
“The Rice couple certainly deserves a pat on the back,” she said about last week’s citizen recognition.
This wasn’t the first time the rescue station crew helped save a Wenzelburger family member. They responded to an emergency call and performed CPR on Mrs. Wenzelburger after she suffered a heart attack three years ago.
“They are a marvelous group of guys,” she said about the crew of Station 30.
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Article published on Wednesday, March 15, 2006
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