Herman suffered a heart attack and his life was saved thanks to decisive CPR by Spencer Zwier. The employee of the municipality of Boekel was named company emergency response officer (ERT) of the year on Monday. To Herman’s complete satisfaction: “He is my guardian angel.”
Spencer Zwier was unsuspectingly at work at the municipality of Boekel on Monday morning when he received a call that he had been chosen as company emergency response officer (ERT) of the year. “I’m still amazed by it,” he says a few hours later. “I did what any emergency response officer would do.”
During carnival, something went wrong during the traditional key transfer in the town hall where Spencer works. Herman, a member of the carnival association, wasn’t feeling well, Spencer remembers. “He thought it was a hunger pang, so he went to get something to eat at the cafeteria opposite the town hall.”
“I was full of adrenaline and immediately started CPR.”
It soon became apparent that there was more going on. Herman collapsed and bystanders rushed to the town hall to get help. Spencer: “I have been working for the municipality for 22 years and I have been an emergency response officer all that time. I grabbed the AED (Automatic External Defibrillator, ed.) and ran to the victim.” There he saw that something was wrong. Herman had had a heart attack.
Spencer didn’t hesitate for a moment: “I was full of adrenaline and immediately started CPR. I only realized what was happening afterwards,” says Spencer. A day later he heard that everything was going well with Herman.
“When I saw him I thought, gosh, that’s my guardian angel.”
Eight months after the heart attack, Herman is still doing well. “Excellent even,” he says after Spencer is recognized for his heroic act. “I think that is more than justified,” said Herman. “I wish him to be in the spotlight, although it does stir up some things for me.”
Herman himself remembers nothing about the event, but he has heard many stories. “When I see something that has to do with resuscitation, such as football players who sometimes collapse on the field, I think: gosh, that’s how I felt too.”
Herman and Spencer knew each other a little bit by sight. “But when I got out of the hospital, he came to my house,” says Herman. “When I first looked at the man who saved me, I thought, gosh, that’s my guardian angel.” Herman searches for his words for a moment: “I can only say that it was emotional. Seeing the person who did your resuscitation was very intense,” he says after a short pause.
“I hope I never have to experience it again, but if I have to, I will do it again.”
Spencer is honored with the title of emergency response officer of the year, but is also down to earth: “That’s what you train for and I think everyone would do the same,” he says. “I have been a volunteer in the fire brigade for 25 years, so I am used to something that allows me to deal with these kinds of things well.”
He does hope that more people will sign up as emergency responders because of his story. “You learn what you have to do to save someone’s life. That is very important, not only for yourself and others, but also for the organization where you work,” he says.
“I hope I never need it again,” he adds. “But if I have to, I’ll do it again.”