By Bill Carey
EMS1
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic Emergency Medicine Professor Dr. Matthew Sztajnkrycer suffered a heart attack on Memorial Day after ignoring symptoms.
Sztajnkrycer’s wife, Andrea, called 911 and in a rare moment, the two paramedics who responded to the call were Sztajnkrycer’s former students, NBC News reported.
“‘Doc Matt,’ I said, ‘I know that you want to help with all of this, but know it’s time for you to be a patient,’” Paramedic Manny Quinones said. “This is the biggest opportunity for you to critique what you have been teaching us.”
“When you are really worried you are dying, seeing those familiar faces, that was the first time I knew I was going to be okay,” Sztajnkrycer said.
Sztajnkrycer’s wife recorded the former paramedic students saving the life of their teacher.
“I just kind of knew he was going to want to see pictures of what was going on,” she said.
“While we were transporting him, he asked me if the pads were on him,” Paramedic Justin Carroll said. “That, to me was like, ‘Oh boy’, he as a patient can feel this is bad.”
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Sztajnkrycer recovered after heart surgery and used his experience to remind others not to ignore warning signs or underestimate their symptoms.
