Two Norwood residents who saved the life of a man who went into cardiac arrest at a gym have been honored with a Heartsaver Hero award from the American Heart Association.
Paula Verderber and Scott Leverenz were preparing for a class at CrossFit Prosperity on June 28 when classmate Chris Dull collapsed, the Norwood Fire Department said in statement Thursday.
Verderber and Leverenz sprang into action. They started CPR and used a defibrillator located inside the gym to revive the unconscious Dull before paramedics arrived, the statement said.
Verderber, who has been a nurse for 22 years, said that she had never seen a patient respond so fast.
“Never in my whole career of nursing have I seen a patient come back so quickly,” she said in the statement.
Leverenz said he had to figure out how to use the defibrillator on the fly.
“I’ve never used one before,” he said. “So to grab it in the moment and in 30 seconds figure out how to put it on his chest, then take a look at a few images, and have the machine tell me what to do was pretty impressive.”
The duo and CrossFit received the Heartsaver Hero award which is presented to those who advance the mission of the American Heart Association and Emergency Cardiovascular Care through a “courageous act by saving a life,” the statement said.
The award was presented during a ceremony Wednesday at the gym, with a grateful Dull in attendance.
“I can’t thank these two enough, I don’t know where to start,” Dull said in the statement. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
Norwood Fire Chief Chief David Hayes lauded Verderber and Leverenz for their speedy intervention.
“We arrived three to four minutes after the call, but this 30-second window made all the difference,” Hayes said.
Adam Sennott can be reached at adam.sennott@globe.com.