WOW Trail CPR effort merits Hero Award

LACONIA — A woman who came to the rescue of a man who had suffered a heart attack while walking along the WOW Recreation Trail last summer was honored, along with Laconia firefighters who responded rapidly to a call for assistance, in a ceremony held Thursday morning at the Central Fire Station.

Allen Cornelius, who was in his 60s, was in a state of cardiac arrest when Katie Stockton came upon him on the WOW Trail in the vicinity of Moulton Street on July 29. She immediately started CPR and sent another woman who was with her to call for help, according to Shawn Riley, Laconia Deputy Fire Chief.

As luck would have it, a Laconia ambulance crew was nearby, having stopped for lunch at the Subway restauarnt on Union Avenue.

Riley, who was one of the responders for the incident, said that Stockton was able to restore a pulse as the EMTs, guided by her hiking companion, arrived on the scene and that Cornelius was first taken to Lakes Region General Hospital to be stabilized and then taken to Concord Hospital.

"We didn't think he was going to make it at first. But he made a complete recovery and showed up at the fire station in November to thank us for saving his life. That's one of the most gratifying things that can happen to a firefighter, to have someone tell you that you saved their life,'' says Riley.

He said that he still had his notes from the incident and was able to contact Stockton and her companion to arrange yesterday's ceremony at which all involved in the incident were presented with an American Heart Association "Heart Saver's Hero" award an a "Fire Chief's Award.''

Cornelius, a philosophy professor at Hesser College, will be returning to his job next month.

Riley said that Laconia has one of the highest rates of heart attack survival in the country, with a 24 percent recovery rate, three to four times higher than the 6-8 percent recovery rate nationwide. He traced that to the excellent training the department's EMTs have received and the pro-active approach taken by Lakes Region General Hospital to education and training on the treatment of heart attack victims.