The room was hushed, all faces at the wedding reception turned expectantly to hear the toast, when suddenly, someone came rushing into the room, calling urgently for one of the groomsmen.
Cameron Waldman, 26, originally of Jamesport, was a member of the bridal party in his friend Patrick Fedun’s nuptials. Fedun, of Laurel, married Stefanie Pesce of Mattituck, and the happy couple and their guests headed to the Venetian Yacht Club in Babylon for the reception.
Bedecked in wedding finery, no one expected what came next — two North Fork locals, who’d only met once, worked together to save the life of a stranger they’d never see again.
Waldman, whose father Howard Waldman works at the Jamesport Country Store and is a longtime Jamesport firefighter, said the Labor Day weekend wedding was going as planned when everything changed in an instant.
“I heard someone from the staff come in and ask for me. I said, ‘I’m Cameron.’ He said, ‘Come with me. There’s a medical emergency.'” At first, Waldman said, he thought something had happened to his father. “I didn’t know what to think.”
Soon, though, the scene unfolded: A man, a stranger, who was a guest at the second wedding taking place that day in the catering hall, had collapsed in the men’s bathroom and needed help.
Waldman, a first year medical student at Albany Medical College, said he checked and found a faint pulse.
Within seconds, Waldman was joined by Fedun’s aunt, Debbie Horton of Cutchogue, a nurse.
“We were both with the man; he was on the ground, and we no longer detected a pulse,” Waldman said. “He wasn’t breathing. As far as we know, his heart stopped.”
The pair began cardiopulmonary resuscitation; he did 30 compression and Horton, two breaths, he said.
Waldman, a New York State-certified EMT, said he’d learned CPR through his EMT certification training.
As the two began to once again detect a faint pulse, Waldman said he remembered the lessons he’d been taught, and began to evaluate the situation.
A third hero, a guest at the other wedding and the son of the man who was unconscious, came and said he was a doctor. Waldman and Horton gave an update and then the physician took over until EMTs and an ambulance arrived.
Waldman wasn’t expecting to find himself faced with a life-or-death situation at the wedding. “We didn’t have any equipment,” he said. “I was in my tuxedo.”
Neither Waldman nor Horton knows how the man, still a stranger, is doing, days after the crisis. When Waldman went back that Monday to the catering hall, he learned that the man, who had been taken by Babylon Fire Department to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, had survived the night and was in intensive care in critical condition.
When contacted this week, management at the Venetian said they had “no idea” if the man had survived.
Officials at Good Samaritan were also unable to release any information about the patient.
But even without knowing his name, both Waldman and Horton sprang into action, their only mission to save the man’s life.
Horton, who said she’d only met Waldman once before they teamed up on their life-saving mission, at the rehearsal dinner the night before, commended his composure. “He’s going to be a compassionate physician,” she said.
Horton, too, wishes she knew the outcome, and if the man is now recovering, surrounded by his loved ones.
A retired certified oncology nurse who worked in private practice, Horton said she knew right away that something was amiss when she saw staff asking for Waldman.
“We were toasting the bride and groom,” she said. “I knew he was a medical student so I started thinking, ‘Why would they want Cameron?’ Then he got up and started walking — no, it was more of a run. I started thinking, ‘This is a medical emergency.'” She turned to her sister, whose son was about to toast his brother, the groom, and told her she had to go to help.
“I went into the men’s room and said I was a nurse,” she said.
Ironically, she said, “I’d never done CPR before. Never.”
But Horton, who’d worked for 12 years as an oncology nurse, sprang into action, doing the head tilts to open an airway, until she heard what sounded like a gasp for air. After she did the breaths, she agreed with Waldman that they believe they saw the man’s chest begin to rise again, with a faint pulse.
“I thanked God when EMS came,” she said. “Here I am in my six-inch heels, with no equipment, and no barriers. Obviously, I wasn’t prepared. I guess you’re never prepared. But I kept looking at this poor man and knew it were someone I loved, I’d want someone to breathe for me.”
Horton, too, commended the EMTs on the scene. “Thank God for EMS. They’re the real heroes,” she said.
Her voice rich with compassion, Horton said she worries about the man’s wife, with whom she sat for a few moments after the save. “I pray she’s doing okay,” she said. “It was very difficult for her and her family. His wife told me she was very appreciative of what we’d done. She said all we could do was to keep praying. It’s in God’s hands.”
Waldman said the rescue was not about him, but instead, about an emergency system that’s set up in the United States that works. “Debbie and I were a part of that. We responded and started CPR quickly. Luckily, his son, who was a physician, came in, and the ambulance came quickly.”
Reflecting on the life-or-death moments, Waldman said, “It did feel good to be a part of that. I feel fortunate that I was there, and that Debbie and his son were there.”
The crisis illuminated the dire need for all to be educated in CPR, he said, stressing “the importance of knowing those skills.”
When all was said and done, Waldman said the one mystery was how the staff had known he was a medical student. He later learned that a guest at the wedding and he had shared a brief conversation at the rehearsal dinner, and he told her his career plans. “I’d almost forgotten about that conversation,” he said. “She told me she was coming out of the ladies’ room and had seen what had happened. She alerted the staff, and they asked if she knew anyone who knew CPR. It was a total coincidence.”
Waldman, originally from Jamesport, said his mom Sharon Waldman now lives in Nevada, so he divides his time on both sides of the country.
But from his earliest days, the importance of helping others was instilled into his young heart. Both his parents, Waldman said, are EMTs. His father is well-known in Riverhead for his heroism, having saved not one, but two lives in six months.
The 39-year-firefighter witnessed an elderly man accidentally back his Jeep into the Sound at Iron Pier beach while trying to tow his boat out of the water back in October, 2013. The Jeep quickly became submerged with the driver inside.
Waldman, who saved the life of an elderly woman in March, 2013 — he was making an Easter flower delivery and found an 84-year-old woman who’d been on the floor of her Jamesport home for two days — sprang into action when he witnessed an SUV become submerged with its driver trapped inside, saving the man.
He was named 2013 Firefighter of the Year for his heroism — and the apple has not fallen far from the tree.
“My dad is a hero,” Cameron Waldman said. “Going into the Sound, saving people at 67.”
His son’s own heroic act touched Howard Waldman. “I’m very proud of him,” he said.
Learning from his parents, Waldman said a spirit of volunteerism was born at an early age. “Emergency response was such a frequent discussion in my family growing up, it does give you the mindset where you’re really not intimidated by emergency situations.”
Certain questions must be asked, such as reminding those in the area to call an ambulance. “It’s such a simple thing, but from having the issue of emergency response be such a casual conversation in my house, I’m luckily not to be totally caught off guard. I can hold onto some sense of calm,” Waldman said.
Howard Waldman recalled his son first serving for the volunteer ambulance squad in Beacon, NY and deciding to follow in his footsteps as an EMT. Next, his son decided he wanted to go to medical school, so, with a degree in philosophy and bioethics, he next headed to the Harvard Extension School’s premed program, and now, has begun his med school education at Albany Medical Student.
Life lessons began early: In an emergency, Waldman said, “I always told him to be proactive. Don’t hesitate.”
Horton also emphasized the need for all to learn CPR. “It doesn’t always work, but at least there’s some chance, some hope.”
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