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Several riders and the lift operator rushed to the heart attack victim's side and began CPR.
One of them is a nurse, another an off-duty police officer from Bergen County who was with his son on the trip.
“The conveyor belt was a little unsteady,” said the officer. “At first I thought he just fell down. Then I realized it was a lot worse than that.
“He wasn’t moving, so things started to pile up on the belt,” he told Daily Voice. “We had to start throwing tubes over the side.”
Eventually it was stopped, leaving the victim and rescuers “smack dab in the middle” of the lift, the officer said.
By that point, two Campgaw Ski Patrol officers had grabbed a defibrillator and CPR rescue pack and bolted out of the patrol room, Director Erik van den Berg said.
They took over the rescue effort.
Three Mahwah police officers and an and EMS crew arrived soon after.
“The patient was stabilized on the hill and loaded into the EMS rig, where the medics took over,” van den Berg said.
Meanwhile, the officer stayed with the victim’s children atop the hill until the conveyor belt was cleared.
He and the nurse walked the youngsters down to a friend from another Wayne school who was waiting at the bottom.
The victim’s wife went with him to The Valley Hospital. He reportedly was discharged Sunday night, 48 hours or so after the incident.
According to van den Berg, the heroes weren’t interested in seeing their names published. The off-duty officer felt the same.
For these responders, the rescue itself was the reward.
“It’s something we train for,” van den Berg said. “It went like clockwork.”
“The only trouble, really, was dealing with the lift because it was full,” the director said. “200 or 300 feet up is a bit of a chore. But everybody beat feet.
“Everything came together the way it was supposed to,” van den Berg said, noting the critical importance of swiftly attending to cardiac patients. “It worked out really well. We’re very pleased.”
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