(Lawrenceville, Ga., August 30, 2016) – The personnel at Gwinnett County Fire Station #25 received a welcoming visit from a cardiac survivor they helped save.  On October 12, 2015, Forsyth County resident Leigh Trostel shook hands with the men assigned to the Engine and Medic Unit that answered the call from 9-1-1 dispatch of a person down unconscious.

According to Leigh, the date of August 31, 2015 seemed like a normal day.  He had been at work and then went to dinner at Zaxby’s with his bowling teammates before going to the bowling center on Highway 29 and Pleasant Hill Road in (unincorporated) Lawrenceville.  The “guys” as Leigh described them, were doing their thing on the bowling lane and were already in their second-game of bowling when he began feeling dizzy.  It was only a matter of seconds, when Leigh collapsed on the floor and was in sudden cardiac arrest.  Firefighter-paramedics arrived just after 8p.m. to find Leigh unconscious and unresponsive with no obvious signs of life.  Leigh’s teammates were doing bystander CPR in an attempt to revive him when emergency personnel approached.  “For all intent and purposes, Leigh died that night at the bowling center,” said Gwinnett Fire and Emergency Services spokesman, Captain Tommy Rutledge.  Paramedics immediately began a rapid assessment and initiated advanced-cardiac life support measures to treat Leigh.  Due to his condition, paramedics knew this would be a load-and-go situation with no time to waste.  Paramedics started an IV to provide a port for administering medications, performed artificial chest compressions and respirations, and notified medical control at Gwinnett Medical Center of an incoming critical patient.  Paramedics applied pads from the cardiac monitor and provided a series of electric shocks to defibrillate Leigh’s heart.      

Leigh’s next memory was waking up in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  He didn’t know what had happened to him or why he was in the back of an ambulance with the sirens blaring and lights flashing.  This is certainly not the kind of situation that anyone would want to be jolted awake too.  Leigh remembers trying to talk to the paramedics who were treating him during the transport, but he was fading in and out of consciousness. 

According to Leigh, he remembers being cold and feeling an ungodly crushing (painful) sensation inside his chest from the CPR.  Even with staring death in the face, Leigh jokingly says, “it wasn’t the kind of feeling he wanted to experience again.” 

Leigh’s wife, Susan Trostel was at home that night and was unaware of the events that were unfolding just miles away.  She remembers being notified via social media.  The message from a friend on Facebook telling her to please call, that something was wrong with Leigh.  Susan then rushed to the hospital to be by Leigh’s side during the ordeal.

Smiling at the kitchen table at the fire station and surrounded by his rescuers, the couple talked candidly about the events leading up to that fateful day.  The two agreed that Leigh displayed a few signs that something was not quite right.  One episode was while Leigh was mowing the lawn a few days before. “Fatigue was getting to him a lot quicker and he looked pale,” Susan said.  Leigh also remembers feeling lightheaded while bowling.  They attributed it to the heat and didn’t really think that something like this could happen to Leigh.

According to Leigh, God had other plans for him and dying that night was not on the itinerary.  He spent the better part of an hour at the fire station reminiscing with the crew about the events of that night.  He was able to hear the stories straight from the responders of how they treated him.  Leigh is thankful to them for their life-saving skills and professionalism.  He is also thankful to the medical staff and doctors who treated him at the hospital.  Leigh says, “It was truly a team effort.” 

Fast-forward to today, Leigh has made some definite lifestyle changes and has resumed an active life despite his experience with sudden cardiac arrest.  Leigh went back to work within seven-weeks of the cardiac arrest event and even resumed his bowling activities with teammates.  Leigh, along with paramedics is stressing the importance of learning CPR and how to use an automatic external defibrillator (AED).  You never know whose life you might be able to save.  Leigh and Susan are grateful to his bowling teammates and bystanders for stepping up and for helping to give him a second chance at life.  Leigh knows every day, that his existence is a gift from God.  Leigh continues to be a success story and makes a positive contribution to his family, friends and the community.  Leigh expresses his sincere appreciation to everyone involved that night and in the weeks following.  His teammates and friends administering the initial CPR included: Kyle Renuart, Butch Liddell, Terry “T-Bone” Bacon and Brian Smith.  In addition to active CPR, more than a hundred other league members gathered in prayer around Leigh during the life-saving activities.  Leigh is convinced that prayer was a major factor in his survival.  Firefighters/EMT-paramedics included: Michael Castillo, Tim Norton, Anthony Weatherford, Joe Kwiatkowski and Charles Price. 

It’s been almost one-year from the date of Leigh’s sudden cardiac death experience and he, and his family are thankful that he’s alive today and able to return to a lifestyle similar to that which he experienced prior to the sudden cardiac death event.

To learn more about free cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and AED classes, please contact the Gwinnett Fire Community Risk Reduction/Education Section at 678.518.4845 or e-mail fireprograms@gwinnettcounty.com.