Firehouse CEO reunites with first responders who save his life
4 min read
“I will never ever be so joyful as when I observed these first responders coming up this path,” Fox exclaimed. “It was the calvary. And I understood I was in good fingers.”
LINVILLE, N.C. — Firehouse Subs CEO Don Fox was vacationing in Linville, North Carolina when he endured the unthinkable: A coronary heart assault at 5,000 ft atop Grandfather Mountain.
Fox said he was climbing with his wife when enormous chest pains stopped him dead in his tracks.
“We had been at about the mile mark and all of a sudden commenced having significant upper body pains, I could not transfer,” Fox remembered.
Fortunately, Fox’s spouse was ready to contact 911. But for the upcoming 40 minutes, he was lying on the ground suffering from a debilitating coronary heart attack.
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“The rescue workforce busted their tail to get up there,” Fox explained.
That rescue workforce, which consisted of the Linville Volunteer Fire Department and the Linville-Central Rescue Squad, hiked extra than 5 miles to get to Fox on best of the mountain
“It was early,” firefighter Garrett Stonesifer remembered about that day. “We received there fairly speedily.
In advance of the rescue group could get to Fox, he mentioned he considered the likelihood that he would never make it down alive.
“I nearly just reconciled myself to it that it was ending there,” Fox stated battling again tears. “And I imagine back on it and just a ton of emotions arrive again.”
The pleasure that Fox felt when he observed the guys and girls coming towards him on that mountain is a single he will hardly ever forget.
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“I will hardly ever be so joyful as when I observed those to start with responders coming up this trail,” Fox exclaimed. “It was the cavalry. And I realized I was in good palms.”
Fox said, luckily, his rescue workforce had the needed machines they desired to safely rescue him from the mountain.
“They had the equipment that they needed, they had the people that they need,” Fox explained. “Not all people is so fortunate.”
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And that is why Fox, with his Firehouse Subs Community Protection Foundation, presented the Linville Volunteer Fire Division with a $49,585 grant for that essential lifesaving equipment.
Fox manufactured the presentation during a reunion with the really same initial responders who saved his lifestyle almost just one calendar year in the past.
The Linville Fire Department said they are incredibly grateful for the donation and that even though they hope under no circumstances to use the machines, they will be very important in the rescue process.
“That piece of tools will be a game changer for us,” Stonesifer exclaimed. “God forbid a thing like that occurred for true, in true lifetime.”
The gear Stonesifer is describing is the Zoll X Collection Keep track of/Defibrillator and AutoPulse Resuscitation Technique. The fire department was capable to purchase all those two things thanks to the grant from Fox and Firehouse Subs.
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This vital, lifesaving tools will permit firefighters to present state-of-the-art lifestyle aid and react to cardiac emergencies and produce superior-high-quality, automatic CPR on the go.
Fox said he is 100% healthy now, but he’s for good grateful for his “angels” who rescued him that working day.
“It really is existence-shifting,” Fox stated about his rescue. “But then to see the people that working day because I’ll hardly ever overlook their faces. They have for good modified your life by staying there.”
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He also claimed this expertise has not stopped him from vacationing in the mountains with his spouse. He just could possibly acquire it a very little much easier future time on the hikes.
“Again mountaineering,” Fox reported. “I really don’t know if we’ll do the similar path this time but we’re heading to be hiking the spot. Love the spot.”
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