Despite having no training, Rickey said he began chest compressions and called for help. Ken Bish, who was one court away playing tennis, ran over and did full CPR.
Kettering firefighters Doug Panstingel and Howard Beals, who happened to be upstairs in the rec center working out, rushed down, got to work and eventually restored DiLorenzo’s heartbeat, thanks in part to an automated external defibrillator.
Last Thursday, all five men gathered on the stage of Fairmont High School’s recital hall, Bish and Rickey to receive Citizenship Awards, Beals and Panstingel to receive Life Saving Awards and DiLorenzo to offer his thanks, as a crowd of more than 100 gave them a long ovation.
“We preserved his quality of life by giving him oxygen to his heart and brain, but (the firefighters) brought him back with the AED,” Bish said. “The CPR came in very handy, and there’s the living proof,” he said, pointing to DiLorenzo.
DiLorenzo thanked Panstingel, Beals and all of the Kettering Fire Department for saving his life.
“I had a quadruple bypass, and a week later they let me go home, and I’ve been great since then,” he said.
Rickey said after the dramatic rescue, he convinced several people he plays basketball and softball with to get CPR training.
Bish said the rec center, in part with a donation from DiLorenzo, has added extra AED units.
And after all that, DiLorenzo is back where he was Jan. 22, 2010, playing basketball with his friend Rickey.
“I started out taking it easy on him (when he returned),” Rickey said with a smile. “Until I felt him hit me in the back the first time.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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