LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) — It is the power of quick thinking — and one that hits close to home for New York’s Bravest. A firefighter suddenly went into cardiac arrest while on duty inside his own Lower Manhattan firehouse.
His fellow firefighters wasted no time and managed to keep him alive long enough to make it to the hospital.
Joseph Gallucci Jr., 43, now stands as the picture of health — eternally grateful to his fellow first responders.
“My wife would be a widow, my children would not have a father,” he said.
Just last month, the FDNY lieutenant was on the brink of death — it was hard for even him to believe.
“I don’t remember waking up,” he says.
The firefighters who work with him at Engine Company 28 Ladder 11 will never forget. It is a moment seared into their memory when Lieutenant Gallucci’s heart stopped.
“Within a minute we were working on him. And we delivered shocks and EMS showed up and took over,” said FDNY firefighter Michael King.
If Lieutenant Gallucci went into cardiac arrest at home, or really anywhere else, time would have been his enemy, but it happened early in the morning on September 16 while at his firehouse. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where doctors found he suffered a heart attack from a massive blockage and needed a stent immediately.
“You always want to have optimism but somebody who comes in in cardiac arrest it’s not every time you can bring their heart back,” said Eric Wei, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals Bellevue.
The cardiac team had to bring Lieutenant Gallucci’s heart back not once but twice.
“I really thought I was going to be a widow at 40 years old. And we have three young children and it was really scary,” said his wife, Stephanie Gallucci.
It was scary and relatable for even the chief cardiologist at Bellevue who comes from a family of firefighters.
“My dad actually died suddenly in his sleep. So he wasn’t fortunate to be around his brothers who potentially could have saved his life. So that’s actually even more personal to me and why I think it’s so important to spread the message,” said Bellevue Chief Cardiologist Norma Keller.
Lieutenant Gallucci will not be able to return to his job, but he will always visit his extended family.
“There’s again like something pulling me where I stayed with the men that night. Usually I don’t so those are those weird feelings where it just wasn’t my time,” he said.
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