Medford EMTs Commended for Saving Forest St. Man's Life

When John MacCorkle starting having trouble breathing after an electrical fire at his Forest St. home, he thought it was from smoke inhalation.

But the paramedics treating him knew better. It took some persuading, but Erik Laighton and Michael Naughton convinced MacCorkle, 54, that he was having serious heart problems and needed to be taken to a hospital.

He was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital by ambulance, where he went into cardiac arrest. A blood clot was found that, if not treated, could have been fatal, MacCorkle said.

"It was a good thing they convinced me to go (to the hospital)," MacCorkle said Thursday. "Because I wasn't going on my own."

The fire occurred Dec. 7. On Thursday morning; Mayor Michael McGlynn and officials from Armstrong Ambulance presented Laighton and Naughton with awards for their work Thursday morning at City Hall.

MacCorkle went to the boiler in his basement when an electrical fire broke out in his home, which was full of smoke.

When the paramedics arrived, MacCorkle was using an oxygen mask given to him by Medford firefighters. Though he had taken in some smoke, the EMTs could tell there was another problem. MacCorkle had pain in his jaw and neck, and tightness in his chest, they said.

"He was very anxious, he was in denial," Laighton said Thursday at City Hall. "He didn't want to go, finally we put down all our equipment and had a heart to heart with him."

After much persuasion, MacCorkle agreed to get in the ambulance.

"If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here," MacCorkle said. "I owe them my life. I don't know how to repay that, but I owe them my life."

The city switched to Armstrong Ambulance five years ago, Mayor McGlynn said Thursday. Situations like MacCorkle's affirm it made the right choice, he said.

"When something like this happens, it assures you, you did the right thing," he said.