YU Brothers Resuscitate Heart Attack Victim

A duo of brothers who attend Yeshiva University resuscitated a 64-year-old man who had crashed into a highway median on Oct. 7.

Ariel (SSSB ‘19) and Yoni Sacknovitz (YC ‘21), who are both certified emergency medical technicians, were driving home from a New York Jets game northbound on New Jersey Route 17, when they noticed a Hyundai Kona pulled over on the side of the road, having crashed into the median. Ariel, who was driving, immediately pulled their car over and rushed to go help. After noticing the driver was unconscious and unresponsive, the brothers — along with other medical professionals who passed by — broke a window and extricated the patient from the vehicle.

Yoni began chest compressions while Ariel oxygenated the man with a bag-valve mask. A paramedic unit arrived several minutes later with a defibrillator and administered a shock, causing the patient — who had suffered a heart attack — to regain consciousness. The man, a resident of New Windsor, New York, was then transported to a local hospital and has since recovered.

Ariel, 22, a Business Intelligence and Marketing Analytics major at the Syms School of Business, volunteers with Hatzalah of Washington Heights. Yoni, 20, a Biology major, worked for SeniorCare Emergency Medical Services, a private ambulance company, this past summer. Both aspire to attend medical school after graduation.

“We were glad we were able to help,” Yoni said.

“We were glad we were in the right place at the right time,” said Ariel, who noted that he had the equipment on hand necessary to revive the man, courtesy of Hatzalah. “This is what we were trained for,” he added.

Photo Caption: The emergency scene
Photo Credit: Yoni Sacknovitz