Saugus to honor heroes

SAUGUS – The Board of Selectmen will take a break tonight from public hearings and potential political squabbles to honor a group of heroes but it is the man they rescued who really wants to bestow an honor on his brothers.Selectmen will present citations to the police offices, firefighters and one dispatcher who pitched in to save the life of Sgt. John Coburn last December.Coburn, however, has issued a thank-you of his own in a letter to his comrades.It was early on Dec. 7; Coburn was the Commanding Officer on duty and was in the midst of booking a suspect when he collapsed. Coburn said that his doctor would later tell him that his heart stopped before he hit the ground after suffering a full cardiac arrest.”Inside the same room in the station were several of my brother officers,” he wrote. “My brothers immediately started and performed CPR on me. After the emergency action at the station and after a quadruple bypass at the Massachusetts General Hospital I am still alive and my children still have their father and my wife still has her husband.”Coburn said due to the quick actions of his highly skilled colleagues he would make a full recovery and be back to work in short order.”I will never forget and I will always cherish my ‘brothers’, Sergeant Lenny Campanello, Officer David Gecoya, Officer Michael Richards, Officer Jason LaBella and Dispatcher John Dinochie,” Coburn wrote. “I would also like to thank all the members of the Fire Department and the Cataldo Ambulance Paramedics who were on duty at the time as they also helped in keeping me alive and stable during the trip to the hospital. May God bless you all.”Firefighters who were on hand that night included Captains Thomas Nolan and Don McQuaid, who responded, along with firefighters Ron Ruszkowski, Scott Phelan, Joe Imbrogna and Robert Shannon.Fire Chief James Blanchard praised the police officers for starting the CPR so promptly while Police Lt. Michael Annese said Coburn likely wouldn’t be alive if it hadn’t been for Shannon’s continuous CPR efforts.Coburn said he would be remiss if he didn’t pause to thank his wife Karen, his family members, friends, co-workers and all the residents who sent get well wishes, fruit baskets and phone calls of concern.The board will honor all those involved during its meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.