NEWBURYPORT — Every day of the year the men and women of the Newburyport Fire Department are called upon to help others in need. But, all that changed one day last month when a handful of them saved one of their own.
On April 4, firefighter George Fraley was off duty at home when he began feeling chest pains. Fearing he was having a heart attack, the 56-year-old called 911 for help. Minutes later, the familiar faces of fellow firefighters Robert Adams, Jeffrey Cutter and Paul DuBois, as well as Cataldo Ambulance Service Paramedic Candace Peltier and Emergency Medical Technician Tim Powers arrived. The first responders quick determined their comrade was indeed suffering from a heart attack and heading towards cardiac arrest.
Fraley was put into an ambulance where technicians performed an EKG and began pumping IV fluids and medication into him while being rushed to Portsmouth Regional Hospital, according to Newburyport Fire Deputy Chief Barry Salt.
But Fraley’s heart stopped on the way to the hospital prompting EMTs to bring him back to life with a defibrillator. Once he got to Portsmouth, Fraley was taken to the cardiac unit, where a stent put in to stabilize his circulatory system.
Roughly a month later, Fraley was standing inside the John F. Cutter Jr. fire station on Wednesday presenting the five first responders with pins commemorating the night they saved his life.
“I’m so grateful to the city, my brothers in the fire department, and Cataldo Ambulance,” Fraley told The Daily News later. “Everybody has just been fantastic. I just can’t say enough about them.”
Although he has a long recovery ahead of him, Fraley said he’s feeling well but is not sure when he’ll be back to work.
“I’ve been in the medical field almost my entire adult life,” he said. “But, when you go through something like I did, it makes you really stop and smell the roses.”
Moved by the life-saving actions of his coworkers, Fraley (who is still out on recovery) asked to have a ceremony at the Cutter fire station to honor them.
Among those who witnessed the ceremony were Salt, Chief Stephen Bradbury III, Mayor Sean Reardon, Cataldo Ambulance owner Dennis Cataldo and area supervisor Robert White.
Peltier, Adams, Cutter, DuBois and Powers (who is a call firefighter for the department) also received citations from the city as well as from Cataldo Ambulance.
“It was a great, little ceremony,” Salt said. “George really wanted to recognize these people who are so instrumental in where he is today.”
He added the five heroes took the ceremony in stride.
“They all said, ‘this is what we do, so we really don’t need to be recognized,’” Salt said. “But we thought differently.”
Fraley said he wanted his friends to know just how much he and his family appreciate what they do on a daily basis.
“We say this is what we do all the time but when it hits your personally, you have a whole new respect for it,” he said. “It’s not fun to be on the other side of things. But I couldn’t be more happy with how everybody came together and saved my life.”
On the night of the heart attack, the first responders checked in on Fraley’s mother who lives across the street from him. They also closed up his own house and made sure it was secure.
Such a team effort, according to Salt, is what any city resident should expect if they call for help.
“We do this for every call, not just for George,” he said. “But we wanted to recognize this group because they not only do a spectacular job, but they just go about their business like it’s just another day.”
But a day like April 4, he added, was certainly not run of the mill for Fraley and his family.
“We understand they’re humble, we understand they want to be just a face in the crowd,” he said. “But we also want them to know that we, as the leadership of the Fire Department and the city know these are difficult calls that mean something to everyone involved.”
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.