Longmeadow man thankful for first responders, bystander for saving his life

LONGMEADOW, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - A Longmeadow man is thankful to be alive after the quick action by some special people last week when his heart stopped while on a walk.

“Time is brain muscle and, you know, she got the CPR going to get the circulation. We got there and we continued that and then shortly thereafter, the advanced life support, which surely did the miracle and kept him alive,” said Longmeadow Fire Deputy Chief Jay Macsata.

Longmeadow first responders are being credited with saving a man’s life after he suffered a heart attack while walking his dog on Converse Street. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving started out as a normal day for Joe Kaye and his wife until he woke up in a hospital bed two days later, unaware of what had happened. The Kayes were taking care of their son’s dog, Dutchess, while he was away for the holiday. They told Western Mass News she started acting a little fussy and that’s when he decide to take her for a walk along Converse Street and he’s thankful he did.

“A series of events that brought these incredible people into my life…If this happened at home, they wouldn’t have known what to do and I won’t be standing here today, so because of her wanting to go out, that started the whole process,” Kaye noted.

Kaye told us while on the walk, he collapsed and luckily, a woman named Margaret was in the right place at the right time. We’re told while performing CPR, the woman called 911 and dispatch helped walk her through what to do. Macsata happened to be in the area when the call came in and was able to continue the CPR.

“Instances of CPR, even when somebody’s in an emergency room, the chances of survival are very low, you know. Ten percent is a higher survival rate, so things came together this day. Everything with the dog taking him for a walk and, you know, Margaret stopping and everybody being close, the chain of survival just worked,” Macsata explained.

Longmeadow Police Capt. Carl Mazzaferro told Western Mass News they assisted fire by providing equipment, directing traffic and making sure Dutchess got back home safely.

“I can’t find a better Thanksgiving, happy Thanksgiving story than the situation and again, it’s a team effort here, so it’s great when you order the team and get a positive result that we did,” Mazzaferro said.

Kaye told us he’s thankful to be here with his family for the holidays, but most importantly, he’s thankful for those who were there to make that possible.

“They’re for us. They are good people. They get a bad rap these days, but they’re good people and I don’t know where we’d be without them,” Kaye said.

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