“Hi Carl, want some pulled pork?” It was a simple question from one good neighbor to another, but it turned out to be the difference between life and death for an 82-year-old New Jersey man. Roberta Cartwright gave her neighbors, Carl Schwab and his wife Susan, a call around dinnertime to see if they wanted some of the pulled pork she had just made. She was in the middle of the question when she heard Carl Schwab suddenly drop the phone. Moments later, she heard Susan Schwab scream for help over the still-open phone line. Cartwright called to her husband, who jumped in his car and drove to the Schwab home at the end of the street. Meanwhile, Susan Schwab called 911. Cartwright’s husband, Peter, found Carl Schwab unconscious, slumped in a chair; he wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. Peter Cartwright pulled Carl Schwab out of the chair, put him on the floor and began CPR. After EMTs arrived it took another 20 minutes of CPR — but they got a pulse and managed to get Carl Schwab stable enough to be transported to a hospital. After having a pacemaker implanted, Carl is back home.
( Carl is second from the right in the bottom row)