By Marisa Donelan
The Sentinel & Enterprise
LEOMINSTER, Mass. — Something about the man’s face made Leominster native Bernie Gardner turn his car around on his way to work, and ask whether he needed help.
Gardner, 51, saw Suffield, Conn., resident Kelly Neale on his hands and knees on Neale’s front lawn in early October, and initially thought Neale was playing with his 80-pound German shepherd, Logan.
But Gardner and Neale made eye contact and Gardner — who is being honored as an American Red Cross “Hometown Hero” Thursday — got out of his car and realized Neale, 48, was choking.
“I tend to look around while I’m driving, and there was something not right about it,” Gardner said Monday. “I didn’t even think twice about it. Had I known that the dog’s nickname was Cujo, I might have thought twice.”
Gardner, who is CPR trained, said he started to administer the Heimlich maneuver — abdominal thrusts to push air up through the lungs to try to make a choking victim cough — because Neale couldn’t speak or breathe.
Neale had started choking on a sandwich in his house while home alone, and went to the front yard to try to wave down a passing driver along his busy street.
Ambulance responded
Gardner also called 911 on his cell phone while helping Neale, and said the ambulance took several minutes to respond, so he continued to do the Heimlich, all while fending off bites from Logan, who was trying to protect his owner.
After some time, Neale was able to breathe on his own, and responders eventually brought him to the hospital, Gardner said.
Gardner returned to work, where he realized Logan’s bites had gone through the seat of his pants and broke his skin, but the injury wasn’t anything serious, he said.
The lunchtime drive through Neale’s neighborhood wouldn’t have happened if Gardner hadn’t left an important key at his home in Southwick, and had to bring it back to Bombardier Aerospace in Windsor Locks, Conn., where he works as a project manager for the aircraft maintenance division.
Friends who have heard the story since have told Gardner that fate worked to make him leave the key behind, so he’d be in the right place at the right time.
Asked whether he believes in fate, Gardner responded, “a little more than I used to, for sure.”
Gardner and Neale have since struck up a friendship, and have gotten together for dinner with their wives. Gardner said he’s also seen Logan since and has warmed to the dog, who has an intimidating bark, but is friendly and well-trained.
A co-worker nominated Gardner for the Hometown Heroes award, which he will receive along with nine other honorees at the Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter’s annual Hometown Heroes Breakfast in Springfield, according to Dawn Leaks, assistant director for chapter support.
“Bernie’s a wonderful guy,” she said. “He saved a man’s life.”
The chapter received 45 nominations this year and a committee narrowed it down to the 10 recipients, who all either saved a life or demonstrated leadership in their community, Leaks said.
Gardner’s parents, Bernard P. Gardner and Patricia Gardner of Leominster, said they’re proud of their son’s actions. Bernie Gardner graduated from Leominster High School in 1977 and joined the Navy afterward, where he received training in aircraft mechanics, Patricia Gardner said.
He is married to another Leominster native, Robin (D’Onfro) Gardner, and they have two teen sons, Dan and Ben.
“He’s a hard working man, he’s very humble,” she said. “I was flabbergasted when I heard (about the choking rescue). He wouldn’t even have told us. His wife told us.”
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