Several Good Samaritans worked together to help save a man’s life following a crash in Toms River, New Jersey, over the weekend. NBC10’s Ted Greenberg spoke to one of the rescuers, a police officer and volunteer firefighter who was off-duty at the time.
An off-duty police officer and several Good Samaritans teamed up to save an elderly man following a car crash in Toms River, New Jersey, over the weekend.
Seaside Park Police Patrolman and volunteer firefighter Ryan Stack was off-duty and with his girlfriend Saturday afternoon when they witnessed a crash at Route 37 and Hooper Avenue in Toms River.
“Actually, I first heard the collision and then saw the light post start coming down,” Stack told NBC10.
Stack immediately jumped into action.
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“My boyfriend is a police officer in Seaside Park,” Stack’s girlfriend told a 911 caller. “He got out of the car and he’s helping.”
As Stack approached the vehicle involved in the crash, he found 78-year-old Horst Szczypinski unconscious behind the wheel. The doors of the car were locked and the driver’s side window was slightly cracked open. Stack, a 20-year veteran of the Seaside Park Police Department, told NBC10 at least four other people responded to the scene to help get Szczypinski out.
“We went up to the front window and two of us got our fingers in on it and ripped it out towards us,” Stack said. “And then we’re able to unlock the door.”
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The group pulled Szczypinski out of the car. Stack said one of the Good Samaritans performed compressions on Szczypinski while another Good Samaritan who happened to be a surgical nurse checked his wrist for a pulse. Toms River Police soon arrived and ultimately revived Szczypinski.
“A lot of bright people at the right time to help out,” Stack said. “For a bunch of people that never did anything together, everybody was acting as one unit.”
Szczypinski was rushed to the hospital. Police said he was alert and speaking with medics. Szczypinski’s relative told NBC10 he remains in the hospital but is doing okay.
“A lot of times when you’re involved in things you don’t hear anything past the scene,” Stack told NBC10. “So hearing something coming back that you know, yeah, he’s talking, was really nice.”
