When it comes to a cardiac episode, life and death could be separated by minutes, but life-altering damage can happen in a matter of seconds. And for PGA Village resident John Van Teeckelenburgh, it was what happened in those seconds that allowed him to keep his promise to his granddaughter – to be at her wedding.
Tearing up, Van Teeckelenburgh recounted what happened on Nov. 4, 2017: the cardiac episode at the PGA Learning Center, waking up at the hospital and not knowing what had happened.
What he didn’t know after he had collapsed was that two former public servants working at the Learning Center were once again pressed into service.
Their quick thinking and action kept Van Teeckelenburgh alive.
John Tuller and Bob Morin performed CPR and administered an AED to shock Van Teeckelenburgh while paramedics from Station 14 rushed to the golf center.
“If not for their quick actions, the outcome would have been much different,” then-Interim Fire Chief Nate Spera said during the recent Fire District Board meeting, at which Tuller and Morin were named “Citizen Heroes” and presented with awards. They received a standing ovation from the full chambers, all while Van Teeckelenburgh choked back tears.
Tuller is a retired firefighter having worked 30 years. Morin served 23 years on the police force before retiring.
“Everything went right,” Morin said.
The men were supposed to be elsewhere at the Learning Center but, due to a series of circumstances, they were right outside the front desk.
Patrick Brosnihan, the operations manager at the PGA Learning Center, said Van Teeckelenburgh had come in to hit some balls on the driving range. Van Teeckelenburgh had been on the range when he decided he didn’t feel well enough and came back in to inquire about a refund.
Brosnihan said that he encouraged Van Teeckelenburgh to sit down but he collapsed before he could.
He called to an employee to call 911 and radioed for Tuller, who told him to get Morin. “Those guys were amazing,” he said of Tuller and Morin, who took charge of the situation and knew exactly what to do.
For Tuller and Morin, knowing that Van Teeckelenburgh pulled through was enough.
For a week following the incident, they had no idea how he was faring. Morin said they agonized, not knowing.
“Now he comes to visit us,” Tuller said of Van Teeckelenburgh, who had been a regular at the center before his cardiac episode.
He hasn’t yet recovered enough to hit the links, or the driving range, he said, but he’s getting stronger. It was enough, he said, to make it to his granddaughter’s wedding the following month.
“They saved my life,” Van Teeckelenburgh said. “They gave my life back.”
“I won the lottery,” Van Teeckelenburgh said of surviving, adding that he’s in a good place now, still recovering and doing cardiac rehab.
Since the incident with Van Teeckelenburgh, all staff at the PGA Learning enter has been trained on the AED, according to Brosnihan. In the event another medical emergency occurs, all should be prepared.
