HOWELL – Through the help of good friends, a Good Samaritan and the Howell, Wall Township and New Jersey State Park Police, a bicyclist suffering from a medical emergency was quickly rescued and whisked off to the hospital for treatment.
The 48-year-old man from Colts Neck was deep in the woods of Allaire State Park with two friends when one of them called 9-1-1, fearing he was possibly having a heart attack. Howell Police dispatchers sent officers to the scene immediately.
Sargent Michael Popek and Patrolmen Ryan Lowe and Ray Tillotson were at the scene in minutes and started searching through the woods armed with first aid equipment. But Allaire State Park is massive and dispatchers were using GPS location to direct officers to the scene. As the officers continued to search, a young, male bicyclist found the officers and led them to where the 9-1-1 call came from.
Wall Police and State Park Police officers were also at the scene when the Howell Police officers arrived with the Good Samaritan. The officers then carried the patient to a trail where a Ramtown Fire Department brush truck was standing by, which then transported him to a waiting Howell Police ambulance, and then to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for treatment.
The coordinated efforts between the police departments, quick-thinking friends and the Good Samaritan in the park greatly helped provide immediate care to this individual.
