On Tuesdays, David Cole normally works from 6 to 9 a.m. at the American Legion Post 880 in Eden, and March 16 started off like just another day...

“My wife was going to my son’s house who lives in Eden to help the kids with school since they were home that Tuesday morning,” he said. “I thought to myself, ‘well, I’m going to wear my squad jacket and squad hat because if there’s a squad call I can go and help.’ We did have a squad call that morning and it involved me.”

As Cole was nearing the end of his shift, his friend Kenny stopped in.

“He walked by me at the bar and talked to me. He came back out here to unlock the door and when he came back I was on the floor without a pulse,” Cole said.

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Eden paramedic Scott Hultquist had just finished working the overnight shift when his wife woke him up to inform him of an emergency call. By the time he arrived on the scene, members of the Eden ERT were already there.

“I’m not sure who it is yet – I haven’t been able to see the head or the face,” Hultquist said. “And then somebody said ‘it’s Dave.'”

 

Dave coincidentally is the man who trained Hultquist how to do his job.

Cole has been a volunteer with the Eden EMS team for 50 years. The men who he’s worked alongside all that time were now working to save his life.

Without them, Cole told News 4 WIVB-TV he wouldn’t be here today. He thanked those members who responded to his emergency call during a ceremony handing each a certificate and bringing them in for an embrace.

“Yesterday I was texting Darcy and we were talking back and forth a bit about being excited to come tonight and I kind of referred to this place as coming back to the scene of the crime,” Cole told the crowd. “And Darcy said ‘no, we’re coming back to the place a miracle happened.’ And I honestly believed that’s what happened – a miracle. Someone was watching over me.”

 

Here are some tips for self-care during the pandemic:

 

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