Fla. Paramedic Saves Wife, then Husband, 13 Months Apart

Dec. 05--POMPANO BEACH -- A colleague calls Pompano Beach Firefighter/Paramedic Marc Piper one of the "shamans" of Fire Rescue Station 52, but his healing powers proved to be extraordinary for one couple whose hearts stopped beating 13 months apart.

Piper, 33, answered both 911 calls and helped bring Patricia West, 62, and her husband Howard West, 64, back to life.

"To save two lives from one household, about a year apart, in my 30-plus years in the fire service, I've never heard of that," said Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Chief John Jurgle. "He was an instrumental part of the team and the team did a great job. But he was the only person on both calls."

The agency will hold its first awards ceremony on Friday when Piper will be recognized as Paramedic of the Year with a plaque as well as a ribbon or medal being designed by colleagues to wear on his dress uniform.

Patricia West -- a retired county library worker who loves to fish -- was in her backyard in the 2600 block of Northwest Sixth Street on July 26, 2013 when she was stricken, and a granddaughter found her.

"She was clinically dead when we arrived," Piper said.

The crew shocked West twice with a defibrillator and the rhythm of her heartbeat became organized before her ride to the hospital, he said. Later, whenever the rescuers stopped by the house to check on her, she was always out.

"It's not frequent that you save someone and they're up and walking," Piper said. "But it meant she was healthy."

On Aug. 29, 2014, Howard West -- a retired truck driver and backyard gardener -- was having pains he attributed to gas. He'd slept through it the night before, but on this night, sweat poured off his body like heavy raindrops, and he couldn't get cool.

"We put him in the back of the truck...and the heart was in distress," Piper said.

Rescuers gave Howard West aspirin and nitroglycerin, but their patient had stopped breathing. Paramedics shocked his heart and performed CPR in a hospital parking lot. Before the crew left the hospital, Piper said West was already sitting up in bed, looking at everyone.

On a sunny day before Thanksgiving, the fire department arranged for Piper to spend quiet time with the Wests prior to the awards ceremony.

"I'm so happy to be here, to see you honored for what you did," Howard West told Piper.

Piper was modest about the upcoming recognition.

"I think they are alive today due to the things that the crew did on those particular days, and also the hospitals that continued what we started," Piper said.

Howard and Patricia West have known each other since their late teens and married in 1996.

Patricia West was teased for her reaction after her husband's trip in the ambulance. When paramedics told her that he lived, she replied that she'd told him he should have gone to the hospital the night before.

When Patricia West said she has some memory loss since her massive heart attack, Howard West said playfully, "Oh, now you admit it?"

But they were in agreement when it came to Piper, who they said was put in their lives by a higher power.

"Some people don't believe in it," Patricia West said. "But let me tell you what I feel. I feel it was God's plan."

Her husband told Piper, "He blessed you so that you would be able to do what you did. Not just for us, but for more people in the future. So you stick with this trade you've got. You have many more lives to save."

When he was a child, Piper moved with his family from Kent, England to the United States. He has worked for the fire department for seven years and lives in Boynton Beach with his wife, Asiha Hill, a teacher in Palm Beach County, and their two young daughters.

Piper said he served seven years with the U.S. Marine Corps, first in Okinawa, Japan, then in Camp Pendleton North, Calif., retiring as a sergeant in motor transport and logistics.

Today's ceremony, when other department personnel will also be recognized, will be held at 10 a.m. at the E. Pat Larkins Community Center, 520 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd./Hammondville Road.

Ltrischitta@Tribune.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta

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