NEW JERSEY COPS ■ FEBRUARY
THE GIFT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 68
ward, he was feeling great.
“I realize now that I was feeling something at the time,” he
recalls, “but I didn’t know it was heart related. Ever since then, I
have urged my fellow officers to get a check-up.”
As part of Walt’s follow-up care he came to DEBORAH for a
check-up before the historic bicycle ride. “My doctor (Saugato
Sanyal, MD) was not enthusiastic about what I was going to do.
I told him, regardless, I was going to do it. We agreed that I should
at least have a stress test.”
The next thing Herman knew, he needed a catheterization and
discovered that his right coronary artery was now 100-percent
blocked. DEBORAH scheduled him to have two new stents
placed.
The result?
“After three days rest I was cleared to go,” he said. “I pedaled for
21 days. It was the hardest thing I ever did in my life, much more
difficult than 12 weeks in the Police Academy. I am so thankful
to DEBORAH and the ‘Gift from Captain Buscio’ program. Twice
now I have been helped when I didn’t know I needed it. All it takes
is some time, and then you have the rest of your life ahead of you.”
“ A Gift from Captain Buscio,” is a program started by Donna
Buscio in honor of her husband, Captain Dom Buscio, who passed
away following a heart attack. The program has already directly
saved the lives of several firefighters.
There are two locations where NJ firefighters can go for heart
and lung screening and exams.
The northern facility is located at Newark Liberty International Airport, 340 Airis Drive, Newark - off of Brewster Road. Go to the
second floor, Room 20. Call 201-216-3055to schedule an appointment. In the Southern part of the state, firefighters can go to Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills. Call 800-555-1990
for information. d
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