Resident and Cops Save a Life on Elm
ROCKY HILL - The last thing Francine Levine remembered doing before the afternoon of April 29 was letting her cat out of her Rocky Hill home.

       That was the day before, when she started not feeling so well.

       â€"I thought I was coming down with pneumonia,” Levine says.

       She can’t recall her husband driving her along Elm Street the next day, or the moment it happened.

       â€"He said I was swinging forward and came back, gasping for air,” she says. â€"And then I was gone.”

       In front of them, Rocky Hill Police Officer Sherri Derry was stopped at the Cromwell Avenue intersection traffic light. She happened to glance in the rearview mirror, and saw Levine’s husband rushing frantically toward her cruiser. His wife was in their car and unresponsive-possibly from a heart attack-he told her. She wasn’t breathing, he said.

       So Derry sprung into action, reversing her cruiser around to the Levine vehicle to shut down traffic on their side of Elm.

       Levine was pale, unconscious, and had no pulse.

       â€"It’s a scary thing, because you want to do everything you can,” Derry says. â€"My only thought was to bring her back.”

       Across the street, Evana Burgwardt was exiting a Starbucks when she saw the situation unfolding. An ER nurse, she’s used to responding to similar circumstances. She immediately rushed over to help.

       So Bugwardt began performing chest compressions while Derry applied an oxygen mask. Sergeant Joseph Phelps and Officer John Lammers arrived to help, assisting with the chest compressions and readying an AED device.

       â€"It felt like forever, but I know it wasn’t that long,” Burgwardt says.

       And when paramedics got there, Levine was breathing.

       â€"This was a potentially tragic incident with a miraculous outcome,” says Rocky Hill Police Chief Mike Custer.

       He’s standing before the Town Council, as well as Burgwardt, Levine, Phelps, and Lammers, at the July 18 regular meeting. Each individual received a plaque, as well as a heartfelt thanks from members of the Council and the residents that filled Council chambers.

       â€"I was lucky to have such great officers and Evana to help get Francine back,” Derry said outside Council Chambers.

       â€"I’m just glad she’s okay now,” Burgwardt said. â€"It’s amazing.”

      

      
MORE ROCKY HILL NEWS  |  STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA   |  Jul 20 2016  |  COMMENTS?