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Tears of gratitude and heartfelt embraces filled the 11th annual Survivor Day celebration in downtown Windsor on Friday as those whose lives were saved got to meet those who did the saving.
“It’s great to meet the people that saved me, because you don’t see them after that,” said Rick Masaro.
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He was one of the 27 survivors whose stories were recounted during the ceremony which honours Windsor-Essex first responders for their life-saving efforts and reunites them with some of the individuals they helped save.
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“It’s a lot,” Masaro told the Windsor Star after he was seen exchanging warm embraces with first responders following the ceremony. He said reuniting with the paramedics and firefighters who saved his life left him at a near-loss for words.
“I just said, ‘Thanks, thanks for saving me.’”
Members of Essex-Windsor EMS, Windsor and Essex County firefighting services, and other emergency personnel gathered at St. Clair College’s Centre for the Arts for award presentations and to hear the emotional tales of the survivors they brought back from near-death cardiac arrest.
Masaro said he “feels lucky,” considering this marked his second time surviving cardiac arrest.
Among those recognized Friday were 72 paramedics, 35 firefighters, seven ambulance communications officers, two police officers, and 37 bystanders, including two physicians and a medical staff member. Mention was also made of four publicly accessible automated external defibrillators.
Survivors received rolled-up and bottled printouts of their heart rhythms that were captured by paramedics on the day of their cardiac arrest.
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First responders who played a role in the rescues were honoured with Essex-Windsor EMS “save” pins.
Masaro was accompanied by his wife, Charlene Norton, who was the first to step in and start CPR when she found him unconscious on Feb. 19, 2023 — only hours after they had attended an early show and meal.
“I’m just so grateful and thankful for paramedics and that I kept a level head and called 911,” said Norton, a dental assistant, who knew to act quickly before the ambulance arrived.
The first time Masaro went into cardiac arrest was in November 2017. He attended the Survivor Day ceremony in May the following year.
“I don’t want there to be a third one,” he said.
“I don’t want to stretch my luck. I’m Catholic, too, and was always an altar boy. So I think that’s what helped. It’s paying off, finally.”
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When asked if being rescued from the brink of death changed his perspective on life, Masaro responded: “No.”
He said he still continues to walk 16 miles every day and play golf.
Most importantly, he said, is having fun.
He and Norton, who had been together for 38 years, made it official this past March 15 by getting married.
Aside from surviving cardiac arrest twice, he considers meeting his wife one of his luckiest moments.
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