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Witnesses said the Hyundai Kona was headed north on Route 17 in Wood-Ridge when it suddenly came to rest against the divider just south of Moonachie Avenue around 4 p.m. Sunday.
Among those rushing to the 64-year-old Orange County, NY driver's aid were a registered nurse and her husband -- also from Orange County -- two passing ambulance workers and an ESPN employee trained in emergency medical procedures.
Tyler Chapis, 27, of Bristol, CT smashed open the SUV's window so he and the others could get to the unresponsive driver, Detective Michael Mueller told Daily Voice.
The group included nurse Diane Vinviguerra, who works at St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan, and her husband, Antonio, from Newburg, along with private ambulance workers Ariel and Yoni Sacknovitz of West Hempstead, NY.
They were resuscitating the New Winsdor, NY driver when police arrived with oxygen, Mueller said.
A Hackensack University Medical Center paramedic who also was passing by joined them and applied a defibrillator, the detective said.
"Soon after, the victim was breathing," Mueller said. "He eventually regained consciousness and was able to speak."
Chapis sustained a minor injury breaking the window and was treated at the scene, the detective said.
The victim appeared fine before being transported to HUMC, Mueller said.
"He even stood up and got on the stretcher," he said. "How lucky is that?
"Everyone around him were emergency personnel to begin with. God was smiling on him."
Responders also included Wood-Ridge EMS and an HUMC ambulance.
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