A heartwarming reunion took place at American Medical Response (AMR) in New Haven on Tuesday, when a Hamden man got to meet the first responders who saved his life back in September.
Thomas Buchan doesn’t remember much from that day, but his wife of 57 years does.
“Heidi told me that I came out of the house and said I was cold, I started convulsions, started to vomit,” Buchan said.
His wife called for help, and that’s when AMR and Hamden firefighters showed up. The 83-year-old then went into sudden cardiac arrest.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
“First responders from AMR, town of Hamden, and New Britain EMS Academy immediately took advanced life-saving measures with CPR and defibrillation,” Mike Turcio from AMR New Haven said.
Buchan said he was dead for 11 minutes until those first responders brought him back to life.
On Tuesday, he got to meet them and say thanks.
U.S. & World
“It’s amazing to hear his story because I don’t usually get to hear the background of my patients. I usually see them at the worst and then bring them to the hospital and hope for the best,” said Kayla Anseeuw, an EMT for AMR who was driving the ambulance that day.
Buchan learned Anseeuw’s name after he was transferred to a rehabilitation center following a week-long coma.
“The young lady, her name was Alex,” Buchan said. “She was in the ambulance with me, and she said, ‘I believe my best friend saved your life.’ What do you say to that, you know? So, she showed me her phone, and Kayla’s picture…All I remember is the glasses.”
He reached out to AMR to arrange for this meeting, not expecting it to be a full on ceremony where the first responders were honored, and a plaque for Buchan was hung on AMR’s “Tomorrow Wall” to commemorate those whose lives have been saved.
“I got a little emotional little tear in my eye and I was like, 'this is kind of nice' as it’s not often,” Anseeuw said. “It’s always like, 'oh the nurse did all this, the doctor did this, the radiologist did this,' and people tend to forget EMTs and paramedics are actually medical professionals. We don’t just drive the ambulances.”
With his new lease on life, Buchan said he’s going to continue his work as a pastor, feeding the homeless and helping those struggling with addiction.
“At 83 years old, you don’t have a whole lot of time left, and they gave me another bit of time in my life. We really, really appreciate that and we are grateful and we don’t take it for granted,” he said.
