TOMS RIVER – A Manchester officer and township employees were honored recently for saving a hockey player’s life at Winding River Skating Center.
A hockey game was underway when a 45-year-old resident suffered a cardiac event, Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher said. Patrolman Brian Volk, who was off duty and attending the event, sprang into action and the staff brought defibrillators.
“It was a pretty chaotic environment. People were skating around us,” Volk told the crowd at the council meeting.
“The staff scrambled to get everything. It was 13 minutes from the time he dropped to the ground to the time we had him out of the building on a gurney, breathing,” he said.
Volk and the employees at Winding River were honored for their lifesaving efforts. Assistant rink manager Eddie Casler, and employees Andrew Gargaloni and Wayne Jackson were present. Other employees Ana Morea and Paulie Pisano did not attend.
“Nothing says ‘home for the holidays’ than a 45-year-old father of two saved by a fellow player,” Manchester Police Chief Lisa Parker said.
It was fortuitous planning that there was a defibrillator on site and that there was an officer there trained on using it.
“An angel was watching over this man,” she said.
