HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - It’s EMS week and on Thursday night in Holyoke, first responders and good Samaritans reunited with the man who’s live they saved — after he suffered cardiac arrest during the Holyoke Saint Patrick’s Day Road Race just two months ago.

Jeremy Brown met the first responders who saved his life back in March during a gathering at Pic’s Pub in Holyoke, “I’m very grateful and thankful to be here today.”

On March 21st, during the Holyoke Saint Patrick’s Day Road Race, 51-year-old Jeremy Brown suffered a sudden cardiac arrest two blocks from the finish line. An off-duty respiratory therapist and an off-duty nurse started CPR, then Cataldo Ambulance and the Holyoke Fire Department arrived and took over.

“Having the nurse there, CPR, and it just all worked and that’s how the system is supposed to work, give them CPR have the people who need to be there resuscitate as best you can then get them to the hospital,” said first responder Chris Hopewell.

Brown was in cardiac arrest for about 26 minutes but regained a pulse and started breathing on his own and woke up. He’s since made a full recovery, “I was very lucky to have some first responders running behind me. It’s hard to imagine what you can possibly say to someone that saved your life but there’s nothing more I want to do than to thank them. I’m here today because of them.”

First responders used Brown’s story as a reminder, learn CPR, because early intervention saves lives, “luckily this gentleman was in front of a crowd of people who knew what to do but that’s not always the case so identifying early and starting compression is lifesaving,” said first responder Rock Thibeault.

EMS leaders said Jeremy’s story also highlights the training it takes to do the job and the impact it can have, “it’s not to be taken lightly the skillset that is necessarily to be able to provide this type of care in the field and to have an outcome such as this,” said Dennis Cataldo of the American Ambulance Association.

First responders also told Western Mass News it’s nice to gather together and see a patient doing well after they’ve been brought to the hospital, because reunions like this don’t happen often.

Copyright 2026 Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.