He had no pulse at the Port Allen ExxonMobil plant. Thursday, he thanked the people who saved him.
John Haydel had no pulse when he collapsed at the ExxonMobil plant in Port Allen in August. Thursday, he thanked the coworkers and parish paramedics who brought him back.
John Haydel had no pulse and wasn't breathing when he collapsed at the ExxonMobil plant in Port Allen on Aug. 17. By the time the ambulance got him to the hospital, he was awake and talking.
On Thursday, he stood before the West Baton Rouge Parish Council and thanked the people who brought him back.
"I'd just like to thank everybody who was involved in getting me back home to my wife and my family," Haydel said.
What happened
Haydel, who works for MMR Group, was walking back from lunch around 12:40 p.m. to look at a job on the northwest corner of the plant when he collapsed, according to a summary from ExxonMobil Public and Government Affairs.
Two MMR coworkers, Allen Chiquelin and Herbie Bordelon, realized how serious it was, called for help and stayed with him. Turner Industries supervisors Russell Wiggins and Eric Fruchnicht called 911 and alerted ExxonMobil leadership.
Haydel wasn't breathing and had no pulse. Wiggins and Fruchnicht started CPR, along with Harry "Deuce" Leger and Kevin Waggenspack of ExxonMobil.
Parish paramedics on Medic 20 got there in about three minutes, the fire department told the council. They hooked Haydel to a heart monitor and shocked him with a defibrillator several times. His pulse came back, and he started breathing.
A second unit, Medic 1, took him to the hospital. On the way, he woke up and started talking.
The recognition
All six workers were called by name, along with these members of the parish fire and EMS team: Alexandra Murtegh, Alexcia Booker, Daniel Alleman, Jordan Lambert, Laura Baldwin, Dylan Dixon and Javonte McDaniel.
The medics will also get certificates from Zoll, the company that makes the department's heart monitors. Zoll recognizes every save made with its equipment.
ExxonMobil plant manager Dave Silva and Rory Denicola of the company's Public and Government Affairs office were there. Silva thanked the council for recognizing the responders and called them "true heroes."
"It made a bad day turn into a really positive day, and it's great to be here," he said.
