OLMSTED TOWNSHIP -- Matt Haught believed he would never see the year 2020.

He did, thanks to Olmsted Township firefighters/paramedics.

“I would not have been here if not for them,” the Olmsted Township resident said. “They never gave up. They gave me my life back.”

The department received a call at 10:34 p.m. Dec. 29 about a man -- Matt -- complaining of chest pains.

“I had been having chest pains across my chest and down the inside of both arms for a while, a few days,” he said. “I laid down and the pain would subside, but that night it wasn’t going away.”

Lt. Joe Foecking and firefighters/paramedics Damon Schreiber, Kyle Haag and Rob Crowe were on the call. Once Matt was inside the squad, but before it left the driveway, Matt went into cardiac arrest.

Matt Haught and his wife, Lynn, want to share Matt’s harrowing experience and thank all involved in his recovery. (Joanne Berger DuMound, special to cleveland.com)

Rob said they defibrillated Matt five times, using the automatic LUCAS Chest Compression System, which gives automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation -- or CPR -- while paramedics provided continued advanced life-saving measures.

“We would get him back at a certain point. It was back-and-forth treatment. We went to work and never stopped,” Rob said.

Matt was in the best situation. He was a ““witness” cardiac arrest patient, which means paramedics were with him when he had his heart failures, not finding him already in that state.

“He had the best possible chance of survival. We were right there for him,” Rob said. “The fifth time, we arrived at the hospital and he was good. The guy is a fighter and responded really well to what we were doing for him. We knew the hospital staff would take over to continue life-saving care.”

On Jan. 3, Matt celebrated his 49th birthday with family and friends at Southwest General Health Center and was released to go home. The next day, he visited the Olmsted Township Fire Department to thank them for saving his life.

Matt is married to Lynn and they have three daughters: Sandra, Jenna and Meredith. He also has three children who live in North Carolina.

Matt Haught and his family visit the Olmsted Township fire station and three of the four paramedics who cared for him on his ambulance run to the hospital. (Photo Courtesy of Olmsted Township)

Matt went live on facebook to share his visit and to thank the paramedics and all who prayed for him. He met three of the four paramedics who were on his call. The visit brought him to tears several times. He said he had to thank them.

“I can’t explain the overwhelming amount of joy and happiness I have just thinking about what they did for me. I owe them. I may not have seen my kids again. I felt it was very important to say thank you. I had to,” Matt said.

Rob said the visit was very emotional for them, too.

“We do an awful lot of training and education and see a lot of different situations. In his case, he walked out of the hospital and came here. We shook hands and gave hugs. It was great to see our efforts in his case with his visit. We choked back tears, too.”

Matt was again live on facebook Jan. 8 explaining that he was back in the hospital with blood clots in his lungs and left leg. This columnist was to meet Matt and the paramedics at the station Friday (Nov. 10) for an interview about his harrowing, but life-saving experience -- and gratitude. Although he was at Southwest Hospital, he was also at the station, thanks to live video chatting that day.

He said he would have done things differently from the start when he first experienced pain.

The Olmsted Township squad has the automatic LUCAS Chest Compressing System that helps paramedics in life-saving situations. (Joanne Berger DuMound, special to cleveland.com)

“I would have called earlier, definitely,” he said. “Get it checked out. You can’t play around with stuff like this.”

Joe Foecking said during the interview that it is always better to be “safe” than sorry. Matt agreed.

Rob said people should call them when they are not feeling well, especially as in Matt’s case, when experiencing chest pains, shortness of breath or anxiety. He said a heart attack can manifest in many ways.

Calling paramedics early gives them the chance to run tests and make the “best educational” judgment. Rob said they are willing to “run to the hospital,” but that is not always the case. Again, it is better to be safe than sorry.

The American Heart Association finds that every minute of time a patient goes without needed CPR, the chances of survival decrease by 17 percent.

“People need to learn CPR. That percentage could relate to a poor outcome or some injury. They may not be recoverable,” Rob said.

The Olmsted Township Fire Department offers CPR classes quarterly on the third Saturday of the month. The next one is tentatively scheduled for March 21. It is free to Olmsted Township residents and businesses. Others pay the outside “card cost” of $25, although the department is working to provide free CPR classes to all.

Matt, who returned home later Friday, said he is so thankful for a second chance at life. He said back in the 1980s when he was a teen, he just never thought he would be around in 2020.

“I mean, they were talking about flying cars to appear then. I couldn’t image living to see that,” the North Olmsted High School graduate said. “I now get the chance to do things with my family and I also want to do things that I’ve always wanted to do, but put off. I am blessed.”

So many people shared and commented on Matt’s experience through his facebook page. If you are interested in taking a CPR class through the township, call 440-235-3746. Your CPR knowledge could save someone’s life.

Thanks to Matt and the fire department for sharing this story with me and so many others via social media. It has a wonderful outcome and educational information for all.

Kampus Kudos: Several area grads have earned university accolades.

Four University of Mount Union students from our area earned the Dean’s List for the fall quarter. The Olmsted Township residents are Brittany Chapman, Chase Filicko, Lauren Francescone and Rylan Wikle. To be eligible, students must have completed at least 12 credit hours of traditionally graded coursework while achieving a GPA of 3.550 or better, with no letter grade below a B.

Emily Kovach of Olmsted Falls is a Capital University Provost List honoree for the fall quarter. The list requires full-time, degree-seeking students to have achieved a GPA of at least 3.70.

Marietta College’s Cullen Zaferopolos of Olmsted Falls was named to the fall Dean’s List. Cullen is majoring in sport management. He is a Berea-Midpark High School grad. Any full-time Marietta student completing at least 15 credit hours with a GPA between 3.5 and 3.74 in a given semester earns a spot on the list.

Congrats to these fine students.

Trivia competition: If you have considered joining the Jenkins Place Senior Center’s Mind Challenge Trivia competition, but don’t feel you’re old enough, hold that thought. The competition age is 50 and above -- so jump into the trivia competition.

Olmsted residents may form their own team of three to six players to sign up individually. Simply call 440-427-2519 or email jenkinsplace@olmstedfalls.org to be added to a team. Local competition is at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at Jenkins Place. It’s free to participate. Each person receives a T-shirt.

The senior centers that finish in the top four in the competition receive money for their center.

Last year’s inaugural tournament, according to a news release, had 36 senior centers that fielded teams. They competed for cash prizes in the trivia competition.

It began as a way to engage active seniors by promoting mind interaction, socialization and brain fitness, but it morphed into a new format patterned after the NCAA basketball tournament.

Each local senior center will forward their winning team to regional play in February, March and April. The top four teams will advance to the championship. Regional locations are the Mentor, Solon, Rocky River and Strongsville senior centers.

The overall top team will receive $3,500; second, $2,000; third, $1,500; and fourth, $1,000. Last year’s winners donated their prize money to improve programs at their respective locations.

For more details and a list of participating 2020 senior centers, go to themindchallenge.com.

Soup’s on: Westlake Meals on Wheels, which covers Olmsted Falls, Olmsted Township, North Olmsted, Bay Village and Westlake, received great praise on its recently introduced and completed We Care About You Program.

Meals on Wheels volunteers, area community groups and individuals delivered recipients four bags of non-perishable food items and a bag of winter supplies and personal items collected and donated by area schools, fire departments, churches and communities.

According to an email, the program received many notes of thanks from program clients.

“Many of our recipients live alone and the only person they will see is their Meals on Wheels driver,” Executive Director Marie Patten-Blatter said. “Our goal is to be able to provide a similar care package throughout the year. The mission of Meals on Wheels is not just delivering a meal, but serving our recipients in other ways, as well.”

Well, it came up with a scrumptious way to continue to fund the program. It is offering two soups -- broccoli cheddar and chili -- available for $9 a quart. Orders will be accepted until Feb. 7. Pickup is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 14.

What a way to celebrate love on Valentine’s Day. Delivery is available free of charge for orders of 10 or more quarts.

To order either soup, call Westlake Meals on Wheels, 440-871-2551, email mow@westlakemealsonwheels.org or message the Westlake Meals on Wheels facebook page.

It’s a great way to warm up during the cold months and help those in our local Meals on Wheels program.

Tasty chili: Stop by Olmsted Community Church at 4 p.m. Sunday (Jan. 19) for its annual Chili Cook Off. You’ll find all varieties of chili to suit your taste buds. Admission is $5 a person and you can watch the NFL football games that will be shown on a large screen.

Proceeds from this event will benefit local literacy programs. The church’s youth will have their annual hot dog, pop and bake sale during the Chili Cook Off.

Young at Heart: Olmsted Township Trustee Jeanene Kress will be the guest speaker at the Jan. 28 Young at Heart noon luncheon at St. Mary of the Falls’ Community Room. Reserve your spot by calling Judy Stasenko, 440-235-2222, extension 122, no later than Jan. 24.

A contribution of gloves donated at the event will go to Christians in Action.

Information, please: To include news, tidbits, honors or activities in Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township, contact Joanne DuMound at jdumound@yahoo.com. She also is on Twitter, @JoanneDuMound. The column’s online version at cleveland.com/olmsted has direct links for many news items.

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