Victor Giesbrecht, 61, of Winnipeg, stopped his pickup along an interstate highway in western Wisconsin to help two stranded women change a flat tire. Minutes later, his life was in their hands.

Sara Berg, of Eau Claire, Wis., and her cousin, Lisa Meier, were headed home Saturday night on Interstate 94 when they “heard an awful noise.” They were somewhere between Menomonie and Eau Claire when they pulled to the side of the road with a flat tire — something neither knew how to fix. Meier’s husband was on his way to help when Giesbrecht, who was driving by with his wife, Ann, showed up and asked whether they needed help.

“We were so grateful,” Berg said. “Nowadays, nobody ever really stops to offer their help. It’s kind of scary sometimes, because you really don’t know what you’re getting into.”

Giesbrecht is the type who always wants to stop to help a stranded motorist, his wife said. “He’s the type of person who gives you 100 percent and worries about himself later,” she said.

When Giesbrecht finished, Berg thanked him and they shook hands. Berg recalled Giesbrecht’s farewell words to her: “Someone up above put me in the right place at the right time.’”

And then they parted. Giesbrecht and his wife pulled back onto the interstate. Seconds later, Berg followed.

Less than a quarter mile down the road, Berg noticed Giesbrecht’s red truck pulled over. She passed it and then pulled over herself, figuring the couple may have forgotten something.

No sooner had she gotten out of her car when she saw Giesbrecht’s wife waving frantically at passing motorists.

When she saw Berg, she called out: “I think he’s having a heart attack.”

Berg, a certified nursing assistant trained in CPR, jumped into the truck. Giesbrecht had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. Berg began chest compressions. Meier called 911.

Emergency personnel arrived in about five minutes, “but it always feels like forever at a time like that,” Berg said.

Wisconsin state trooper Kate Sampson arrived first, and gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while Berg continued the chest compressions. When two Dunn County sheriff’s deputies arrived, they helped move Giesbrecht out of the truck and to the shoulder, using the vehicle as a buffer from passing traffic. Sampson, along with Meier’s husband, who had just arrived, and the deputy resumed CPR while the second deputy used an automated external defibrillator to deliver shocks to his heart.

“It was a nice twist of fate,” said Fernandes, who is treating Giesbrecht at the Eau Claire hospital. “We know for sure that the CPR the woman did increased his chances for survival.”

Berg pointed out that it was a team effort by several people.

The last few days have been a bit emotional for her and her cousin.

“We both have felt kind of guilty that having helped us caused his health issue,” Berg said. “But people keep telling us that maybe it put us in the right place at the right time when he was going to need help.”

Ann Giesbrecht, who was also part of her husband’s good luck when she guided their vehicle to the shoulder during his heart attack, is grateful. According to a statement issued by Mayo Clinic Health System, she talked to Berg on Sunday and told her, “You actually saved his life.”

Not only was Bolingbrook Officer Regalado late, one of her boots was caked with mud.

I wasn’t there, but I’m sure one of the cops teased that she’d better have a good excuse.

Seems like she did.

State police report that Regalado — whose first name is not being released — was driving her own car to work on Interstate 355 near Route 6 when a blue minivan behind her veered across the road, into a ditch and up the embankment.

Knowing something was wrong, Regalado stopped and returned to find the elderly driver slumped behind the wheel of the locked van.

She called 911 but handed the ringing phone to another man who had stopped to help and had him relay information to the emergency dispatcher as she tried to open the door.

All the doors were locked, so she told another passerby to get her riot baton from her trunk.

That man got the thrill of using police equipment to break the passenger side window while Regalado unlocked the doors.

As the two men pulled the man onto some nearby grass, the officer ran to get the CPR mouth shield from her work bag.

“The victim did not have a pulse that either she or the other man who knew CPR could feel,” reports said. “He was unconscious, unresponsive and his lips and mouth were starting to turn blue.”

They continued CPR until a state trooper arrived.

Regalado asked the trooper if he was carrying a portable defibrillator in his cruiser and told him to get it.

“At that time (I) applied the patches on the designated areas on the victim … plugged in the cord to the pads and hit the button to begin,” she reported. The device was able to steady the rhythm of the senior’s heart.

An ambulance took the victim to Silver Cross Hospital where he was listed in stable condition after suffering a heart attack, reports said.

Regalado returned to her car and drove to Bolingbrook.

“(I) contacted the sergeant’s desk to advise him of the situation and (that I) may be slightly late to work,” she said.

She’ll be written up for it.

But it’ll be a commendation.

“The department is very proud of Officer Regalado’s heroic response. It is obvious her training and experience played a great role in possibily saving this victim’s life. We commend her for her efforts,” Lt. Mike Rompa said.

“It appeared nobody was driving,” he said. “I got out and ran up to the bus and figured that I would jump in and stop it.”

When Collins threw open the door, however, he found the driver, a 65-year-old Milwaukee man, slumped over without a pulse and two special needs children aboard.

“I stopped the bus and threw it in park,” he said. “Another guy ran up behind me, and we pulled him out and started to administer CPR.”

An Elm Grove police officer was on the scene within minutes of receiving a 911 call, and used a defibrillator to shock the driver’s heart, Police Chief Jim Gage said.

Elm Grove paramedics arrived and took the bus driver to the Wheaton Franciscan Heart Hospital in Wauwatosa while police and bystanders stayed with the children aboard the bus.

“We just kind of tried to entertain them until someone showed up to drive the bus,” Collins said.

A relative of the victim, who has not been identified due to health privacy laws, last reported that he was still recovering in a hospital, Gage said.

“In the end, that’s all that really matters,” Collins said.

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Dental workers revived Ron Tyler after his car smashed into their office at 4901 Bryant Irvin Boulevard.

Julie Watson the Saviour

“I would have been sitting there. Right there,” said dental hygienist Jessica Weyman, pointing to the front of a car resting on the examination chair in her office. “A few more minutes, there would have been a patient in that chair.”

It was about 8 a.m. when the car rocketed into the dental office of Dr. Gary Pointer.

“Looking out the front door, [I] saw trees, bricks and a car go flying by the front door,” said dance instructor Debbi Jo Utter.

The car went airborne just a step or two from Utter’s dance studio nearby.

“I’m sure the tree, the fence and the pole slowed him down,” said Utter. “He was going fast.”

Office workers rushed to the lifeless driver.

“[I] went back inside and got some gloves,” said dental hygienist Julie Watson. “Came back out and noticed he was unresponsive; had no pulse.”

Watson yelled for someone to bring the automated external defibrillator, or AED.

“[I] put the patches on him and shocked him and started CPR,” Watson said. “Luckily there was an MD at the end of the building, in another office. He came down and took over chest compressions for us.”

“Doing that CPR, you could see the color come back,” Weyman said. “It was pretty amazing.”

It took a number of “pretty amazing” coincidences to avoid any loss of life in the accident.

“This could have been a disaster,” Utter said. “We have 1,500 kids a week coming through this building.”

There were no kids at the dance studio; no one was in the dentist’s chair; and a building full of people equipped to save the driver’s life were right there.

And then there was this bit of luck:

“I’m usually not good under pressure, but luckily I held it together today… and fell apart afterward,” Watson said.

“We had just got over the bridge. We had been to get some gas,” said Peggy Poss who was stopped at the light in late May, with her husband Ben behind the wheel. “I looked around at him and he was like this leaning over. I was scared. I knew something was wrong.”

Ben Poss the Survivor

Ben was having sudden cardiac arrest.

“I don’t remember even stopping at the red light,” he said.

Luckily for Poss of all the places to have a heart attack that was probably the best, but it has nothing to do with the intersection, but the people in the cars around him.

NES employees Alan Nelson and Kurt Hellmann were in a truck right next to them that was also carrying an automated external defibrillator (AED). Nelson pulled Poss from the car and administered CPR before Hellmann used the AED to shock Poss back to life, according to spokesman Tim Hill.

“They had him on the ground working with him you know. I was just tore all to pieces,” Peggy Poss said.

The company decided to put defibrillators on 150 of their trucks last spring.

“Mainly we did it for safety concerns for our employees because we are working around high voltage,” said Hill.

They also knew the devices could help the public.

“It makes me feel mighty grateful,” said Ben Poss. “From what I’ve been told I wouldn’t be here today if it hadn’t been for them.”

For Poss, it means a lot more than a second chance. It also means the company he worked at for nearly 35 years came to his rescue.

“It was just ironic that we ended up using it to save the life of a former NES employee,” Hill said.

It’s why, for them, the intersection will never be the same.

“Every time I think about where he was laying, right there in the grass,” Peggy Poss said.

Poss said one day he hopes to meet with the NES crew as well as a Vanderbilt heart specialist who just happened to be there.

Howard Grafenstein the Survivor

He is here, his face beaming, eyes dancing, with a wide smile and rosy cheeks, kissing his wife of 48 years, Judy, with boyish tenderness, all because a handful of wonderful people made it their business to save him.

They cared enough to make sure he made it. And they would not give up.

On Tuesday, April 26, Grafenstein, 72, was driving his pickup down Oak Street shortly before 2 p.m. on a routine visit to his dentist’s office when he suddenly blacked out near the railroad tracks and Hubbard Feed Mill.

“I had no symptoms whatsoever.” Howard said. “It’s scary.”

“[My heart] just stopped beating,” he said.

After becoming unconscious, Howard’s pickup veered off the road and struck a nearby home.

His foot was still on the accelerator and the wheels were spinning when he was initially found, according to reports taken by police.

Luckily, Howard had been driving slowly and was wearing a seat belt. He believes he did not suffer any injuries related to the crash.

Two truck drivers from the grain mill saw the crash and called 911.

“The most critical people to start with… would be those two people that made that 911 call, because had they not been there, I would have never made it,” Howard said. “These two guys called 911 right away.”

Alexandria police officers Sergeant Chad Schroeder and Patrol Officers James Ross and Jason Rosha were dispatched to the scene.

Sergeant Schroeder was the first officer to respond.

Howard was not breathing and did not have a pulse when Schroeder found him.

Schroeder pulled him out of the vehicle and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until Ross arrived on-scene. Ross assisted with giving him breaths while Rosha prepared the defibrillator equipment.

“The policemen actually saved his life,” Judy said. “The important thing is how soon someone responds and how quickly you get oxygen to the brain.”

What were the officers’ first thoughts when they found Howard?

Officer Ross said, “Your instincts kick in and we go to work on what we are [trained] to do. It becomes second nature.”

The men helped load Howard into the ambulance.

North Ambulance personnel used a defibrillator twice to restart Howard’s heart and took him to Douglas County Hospital. Ross continued CPR in transit.

“It is total teamwork between us and the ambulance crew,” Schroeder said.

After arriving at the hospital, Howard was airlifted to St. Cloud Hospital.

Sergeant Schroeder went to the Grafensteins’ home to tell Judy her husband had been involved in an accident.

“He was so calm,” Judy said of Schroeder.

She praised the Alexandria Police Department.

“I have to tell you – the police department – how really truly wonderful they were.”

Schroeder told her right away that Howard was breathing again and his heart was beating. He said Howard was probably already in the air on his way to St. Cloud for treatment.

Pastor Michael Neumann from the couple’s church, St. Paul’s Lutheran in Alexandria, drove Judy to St. Cloud.

Doctors later determined that Grafenstein, a former Stevens County FSA director, suffered cardiac arrest. Doctors believed the arrest was caused by an arrhythmia because no blockage to his heart was detected.

“Either he’ll come out of it right away and be all right,” she remembered thinking, “or he may come out of it and it may take several weeks of therapy and things to get back to where [he was]. He may not come out of it at all, or it may take days for him to come out of it.”

Twenty-four hours passed before Judy and the physicians knew whether Howard was responding to the treatment.

“There were some scary moments in there,” she said.

But Howard’s condition improved rapidly.

“By that Saturday, he was right back. He knew everything. He knew everybody.”

Howard also had a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted to prevent a similar event from recurring. He spent a total of 10 days in the hospital recovering.

The Grafensteins felt certain God was responsible for Howard’s rescue and recovery.

From the workers in the vicinity of the crash who called 911, the assistance of the police officers, to the availability of the air ambulance, the Grafensteins believe God was watching over them during that time.

“I have never ever seen anybody by that street before,” Howard said of the area where his car rolled off the roadway. “It’s not very well traveled.”

And Judy said: “There’s a whole bunch of kind of little miraculous things that went on through this whole thing because the people were in place every step of the way.”

Judy explained if Howard had been home when his heart stopped instead of out driving, he may not have survived.

“I was out getting groceries and [Howard] would have been alone. His heart would not have started again by itself. It had to have either the CPR or the combination of CPR and the shock to bring him back.”

“Everything – all the stars were in line for Howard that day,” Sergeant Schroeder said.

“Faith is important to me and it makes me think,” Officer Ross said. “You always step back a bit and see how lucky we are to have our health and family.”

BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD

Howard believes he will make a full recovery and return to working part time as a crop adjustor for RCIS.

He received a “clean bill of health,” from his cardiologist, according to Judy and has started driving again.

“I’ve been out walking and shopping and been visiting and running around and kind of doing a little bit of everything,” he said.

He looks forward to going bike riding soon.

Howard was one of the lucky ones. The policemen told Judy that many times people do not experience such a positive ending.

After coming so close to death, has Howard’s outlook on life changed in any way?

“I always did appreciate everything,” he said.

The couple has three children and six grandchildren.

Judy could not suppress her gratitude for the people who saved Howard.

“I just can’t say enough good about the policemen because they were so kind, so helpful – just so compassionate,” she said. “We just really want them to have credit.”

The officers were glad to learn Howard is experiencing an excellent recovery.

“It is a relief to hear of a good outcome and know that Howard is doing really well,” he said. “It makes you smile when you think about it.”

How does it feel to be called a hero?

“I don’t see it as being heroic at all,” Schroeder said. “We are just doing our job.”

And the couple would like to thank the men that made that first crucial call to 911.

“Whoever those two mystery people were,” Howard said.

Judy called the Alexandria Police Department to personally thank the officers for saving her husband’s life. She asked what she could do for them in return.

Schroeder answered, “Just calling us and thanking us was all you need to do.”

The police officer, who carries a defibrillator in his patrol car, was first on the scene at Hazeldean Road and Terry Fox Drive just after 6:30 a.m.

The officer found a 56-year-old man unconscious in the driver’s seat. He initiated CPR and then shocked the man with the defibrillator.

Paramedics arrived at the scene minutes later. They say the police officer’s actions were key to saving the man’s life.

“I think it’s fantastic work on the part of the police officer this morning. He responded very, very quickly and put the machine on very quickly, and delivered two shocks,” said J.P. Trottier, spokesperson for Ottawa paramedics.

The man was listed in critical condition in hospital this morning.

Ray Starks the Saviour

Jo Broussardbirge, 52, said it was a miracle from God that she still is alive. She wants Wood County Deputy Ray Starks to receive a medal for his actions April 24.

“He needs a commendation; he needs something,” Broussardbirge said. “He is a true hero.”

Saving Broussardbirge was the combined effort of many people, Starks said. The Rudolph First Responders were on scene quickly and knew exactly what to do and United Emergency Medical Response has outstanding medical equipment on its ambulances, he said.

“It wasn’t just me; it was a whole lot of good folks,” he said.

The Wood County sheriff said the incident is a good example of what can be accomplished when emergency services work together.

“We’re very proud that Deputy Starks and the first responders were in position to help Mr. Broussardbirge,” Sheriff Thomas Reichert said.

Broussardbirge, who is confined to a bed or a wheelchair, was in a medical van returning from an appointment in Stevens Point when her caretaker noticed Broussardbirge was slumped to the side in her wheelchair in the back of the van.

Starks said he was just entering Wisconsin Rapids when he heard the page for Rudolph First Responders and United Ambulance come over the radio. The dispatcher said the call came in as a woman not breathing and without a pulse. Since he was only a few miles away, Starks turned his squad around and headed to the Food Tree on Highway 66 in Rudolph.

Starks was the first emergency services person on scene. Broussardbirge wasn’t breathing and he couldn’t find a pulse.

He got the defibrillator out of his squad and attached it to Broussardbirge. The message the machine gave is often an indication the patient can’t be saved.

“When it said ‘no shock recommended,’ my heart sank,” Starks said. “It was back to basics with CPR.”

Starks started CPR and, a few minutes later, he was joined by the Rudolph First Responders. A member of the First Responders took over chest compression while Starks continued mouth to mouth.

Broussardbirge said she remembers slipping away, but heard Starks calling to her.

“He kept saying ‘Come back to us, Jo. Hang in there, Jo. Come on back,’” she said.

Rescue workers found the driver pulled from the car and without a pulse when they arrived on the scene, said Wieczerzak. Workers administered CPR and used the defibrillator to restore the victime’s pulse.

The accident occurred at the 105.1 mile marker in the southbound express lanes of the parkway.

The driver, who was driving an unknown Hyundai model vehicle, was taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center and is “very much alive,” according to Wieczerzak in a follow-up phone call, who said the driver had a pulse and blood pressure.

He said that the defibrillator used to revive the driver was one that had recently been purchased with a grant Wayside Fire Company received from New Jersey American Water Company.

“We’re psyched over here,” he said of his fellow rescue workers’ reaction to the patient’s stabilized condition.

Edna Schiller the Saviour

Schiller, 53, a nurse for 28 years, discovered that the man had suffered three previous heart attacks, so she called paramedics. The driver wouldn’t go to the hospital, but Schiller insisted that someone else drive the bus, so a parent with a commercial driver’s license drove to Valdosta, where they stopped to eat.

“I was coming back to the bus when the dad who had been driving yelled, ‘Get in here,’ ” said Schiller, a nurse at Henry Medical Center. The bus driver was slumped over and had no pulse.

“We got him out of the bus and onto the pavement and I gave him CPR for six or seven minutes,” Schiller said. “They brought an AED [automated external defibrillator] and I shocked him twice and finally got a heartbeat, and they rushed him to the hospital.”

Schiller said that the experience was scary — even for a nurse with almost three decades of experience.

“I’m a small person, and the driver was big and heavy, so it took every ounce of energy I had to get any air into the man, but it was like I was acting on autopilot,” she said. “When you’re a nurse, you just do what you’re trained to do.”

Schiller later learned that she had saved the man’s life.

“That’s an awesome thing,” she said. “Every morning I ask God to let me make a difference, and most of the time I do, even if it’s just holding a patient’s hand and letting him know I care.”

Schiller worked on medical-surgical floors and in outpatient surgery before moving to the endoscopy unit at Henry Medical Center four years ago. She prepares patients, assists with surgical procedures and helps patients recover afterward.

Schiller credits her mother for inspiring her to become a nurse.

“My mom wasn’t a nurse, but she was a caregiver and always had a big heart,” she said. “Watching her take care of others all those years made me want to take after her in every way.”

Schiller has never left bedside nursing and has no intention of doing so.

“I couldn’t do nursing behind a desk,” she said. “I have to be hands-on, working with patients. Nursing is about caring and giving; it’s a lot of reassurance and compassion.”