In The Bink of An Eye

“In The Blink of An Eye”  by Michael James

  September 11^th, 2014, it’s hard to believe thirteen years have passed. We look back with reverence for those who lost their lives and give honor and praise to the First Responders who in the face of danger marched forward to help those in distress. It was with this reverence and sense of duty that I attended the Empress Ambulance Employee Recognition Awards to honor those who risk their lives to save ours and to personally thank the EMT, Sean Hienzinger, who was my guardian angel in my time of need. While many tend to think of the FNDY firefighters who lost their lives, let us not forget that at least as many EMTs and EMS workers also made the ultimate sacrifice while answering the call of duty.

  By the Grace of the Almighty and a fortuitous choice of wheels I nearly lost my life in a horrible cycling accident six weeks ago. I had spent most of Saturday, July 12^th in St. John’s Hospital with my wife, Dawn, who had been in an auto accident the day before. I had planned on a long Sunday ride through several Westchester towns and decided to do a short five mile warm up ride to loosen the muscles in preparation for the harder thirty five mile ride. I was riding my loop on Midland Avenue and with visions of the Tour de France racers dancing in my head, I burst into a full on sprint. When I reach my anaerobic capacity, I sat down to coast. I looked down at the speedometer which registered just under thirty one miles per hour.  Before I could look up I found myself rolling forward over the handlebars as my momentum came to a near instant stop. ‘Did a stick jump up into my spokes?’ I thought. ‘Oh boy, this is going to hurt.’

  Then all the lights went out. I have no idea for how long but the next thing I remembered was the body-numbing, agonizing pain that seared through every nerve in me. There was wetness on my hands; it felt more slippery than sweat. I could not comprehend what I was feeling was my own blood gushing from the gaping wound above my eyebrow. I saw my bike, it was in two separate pieces yet I could not comprehend what had happened. Thoughts were not processing, nothing made any sense. The carbon-fiber forks on the bicycle had suddenly broken and fell into the spinning spokes pitching me over the bars onto my head.

‘Gotta get out of traffic, any cars coming? Get out of the street, you’ll get run over.’ I struggled to lift my head up.  When I managed to look up, what I saw made even less sense.

‘How did two ambulances and four police cars get here so quickly? Were they right behind me?’ What I couldn’t comprehend in my injured and dazed state was that I had indeed been knocked unconscious, sprawled out on Midland Avenue like a drunken man at closing time. And that’s when my guardian angel came to my rescue. I saw from the corner of my eye his hand on my shoulder and then he spoke.

  “What happened to you? Did you get hit by a car?” I strained to look up at his face but the searing pain in my ribs and shoulder and splitting headache made it impossible. I had been in an ambulance only once before and while I only had one thought in my mind, to ride home to Dawn, the adrenaline wearing off gave way to the severity on my injuries. The panic started rising in me but Sean kept talking to me, kept me talking to him. I still had no idea what he looked like; everything was coming back to me in waves and rushes. ‘Who is this nice man asking me all these questions? Whoah, my bike is broken in two?’

I felt arms that seemed to come from all directions helping me to my feet. Then the pain of the broken collarbone tip kicked in; my arm felt like it would fall off if I didn’t hold it up with my right hand. ‘What’s that on my cheeks? It’s not that hot.’ It wasn’t sweat; it was my own blood rolling down my face. Blood was on my gloved right hand as well. As Sean and his then partner Michael Cerrato readied the stretcher I was laid onto my back and immediately fell into the most severe panic attack I had ever experienced. It felt like I was drowning and I immediately bolted upright. There was the hand again on my shoulder, comforting me. The voices around me melded into one as I sank deeper and I heard Sean calling to me again, pulling me from the depths of the shock that was trying to set in.

I clung to his voice like a man overboard to a life jacket. I followed his voice out of the dark tunnel and back into the light of the moment. The police officers of Second Precinct were kind enough to take what was left of my mangled bicycle home. Sean was even kind enough to ask if I wanted the expensive GPS unit on the bicycle in the plastic bag with my helmet and other essentials I had with me. On the ride to Lawrence Hospital in neighboring Bronxville, the panic attack came on me again and immediately and without hesitation, Sean repositioned himself in the ambulance and held my hand and talked me through it.

I am now six weeks away from that horrible day and celebrating the gift that I was given- I am still alive! I will one day ride again; I will ride with the Yonkers Bike Club, my home crew, before this year is over and I am grateful for that. I am grateful Sean and his partner, Michael, decided to turn down onto Midland Avenue when they did. The Patient Report says they were flagged down by a homeowner who saw the crash. No one has come forward in spite of my efforts to find and thank them.

Getting to meet my hero in person and finally see his face with clarity made up for that and I am duty and honor bound to commend Sean Heinzinger and his fellow EMT and EMS saviors at Empress Ambulance. Sean and several others received awards for calls that ranged from delivering babies to saving car accident and heart attack victims. We see them driving by, sirens ablaze and often don’t think about what awaits them at their destination. But please, let us remember and honor those like Sean who race bravely into uncertainty while we run away from it. These First Responders are a breed apart and deserve every bit of credit and praise we give to firemen and police. They are the silent servants who may not register on our radar... until it is us who desperately need them to come to our aid. Mike and Bob Minerva, the owners of Empress Ambulance, asked me to personally hand Sean his certificate and his special award; I was honored. Special guest Amy Lopez, the Zoll representative, summed it up so well.

“I’ve been selling to this company for over ten years and something about these EMS is they’re doing it for the right reasons. Nobody here is doing it to get rich. Every day they come in and they’re caring and compassionate. Many doctors could take lessons in bedside manner from these guys because you should feel like you’re being taken care of while you’re being treated.”