PEABODY — Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt recognized and awarded a plaque to two city residents at City Hall on Thursday night, who performed emergency medical assistance on a man in a Middleton restaurant last month.
Gary and Karen Matthews of Peabody were attending their neighbor’s 60th birthday party at Teresa’s Restaurant in Middleton on Dec. 17. While sitting at their table, the couple noticed that a man behind them was having a cardiac episode and they quickly jumped to help.
Karen, a registered nurse (RN), immediately attended to the victim before Gary administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), an emergency procedure that is performed when the heart stops beating.
“We got him on the floor, and we realized he didn’t have a heartbeat; so we started CPR and he came back, then we lost his heartbeat again, so we started CPR again and he came back,” said Karen.
Gary continued administering CPR to the victim until Middleton emergency responders arrived at the scene. The victim underwent a quadruple bypass and is in recovery.
Although Karen is an RN, Gary does not work in the medical field.
“I work for a company called Aramark; we’re in food services. So part of our responsibility is to have training in first responding. So like Karen was saying, you just do it; you just jump in and you think of it as your father, your relative or whatever it is, but it’s a human, and you just have to take care of one another,” said Gary.
Bettencourt acknowledged these two individuals during a promotion and swearing-in ceremony for three Peabody firefighters: John (Jay) Dowling, who was promoted to deputy chief; Michael McKiernan, who was promoted to captain; and Justin Sauvageau, who was promoted to lieutenant. The mayor thought the ceremony was a perfect opportunity to recognize the Matthews for their courageous acts of service.
“When I learned of the story I was extremely touched and inspired,” said Bettencourt. “To be in those situations, and to be able to step up and save somebody, it takes a special person — a caring, loving person who can handle that type of pressure, and it’s not easy. When I heard of that story I just really wanted to recognize them in some way, and I’m so glad we were able to do that today.”
