MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent First responders and volunteers who saved the life of Robyn Hagemeyer, front second from right, were honored for saving the softball coach's life at the Montoursville Volunteer Fire Department Wednesday night. Hagemeyer collapsed after a softball practice at Indian park.

Having a major health crisis is something no one wants to experience, but for one Montoursville woman, it could not have happened in a community more prepared to respond to such an incident.

It was a warm sunny day, as normal as any, as coach Robyn Hagemeyer was running through practice with her Fastpitch softball team, Riot White, at Indian Park, when suddenly everything changed.

Walking along the field, Hagemeyer suddenly said she didn’t feel right and within seconds, was unresponsive.

This was the harrowing story relayed by Joe Hanstine, EMS Captain of the Montoursville Volunteer Fire Department at a special ceremony to honor those that stepped up when Hagemeyer needed it most.

Among those honored at the gathering were: Mitzi Miller, Susquehanna Regional EMS personnel Andie Rabe and Brianna Welter, fire department members Mackenzie Karasek, Mikya Stake, Chace Fazio, Tyson Minier, Curtis Welter and Chief Jeff Hutchins, Lycoming County telecommunication personnel Samantha Gordner and Tim Boush, and UPMC Williamsport Dr. Adrian Brandau.

“What are the chances that somebody goes into cardiac arrest while not at a hospital and having a full recovery,” Hanstine asked aloud.

“For those that work in EMS or healthcare, you know the answer. The odds were against Robyn. Statistically speaking, less than 10% of all people that go into cardiac arrest out of the hospital survive to discharge,” he said, adding that only 41% of adults who experience cardiac arrest outside the hospital received CPR.

A 911 call was placed upon Hagemeyer’s collapse, and Miller, recognizing that not only was Hagemeyer not breathing, but she had gone into cardiac arrest, began resuscitation efforts.

Several of the department’s volunteers in and around the station immediately sprang into action.

Another volunteer, Amber Snyder, a certified CPR instructor, heard the call, and realizing the scene was near her home, headed straight to the park, confirmed Hagemeyer was still devoid of a pulse, and took over chest compressions, Hanstine said.

At the same time as EMS arrived, emergency dispatch was advising a bystander on retrieving an AED machine that had just been placed at the park a few years prior.

“What are the chances Robyn goes into cardiac arrest in a public park and not alone at home or at work,” Hanstine said.

“EMS was there within four minutes of the dispatch. In many areas in this county, it takes much longer to get EMS to a scene,” he said, stressing the importance of the AED machine’s presence at the scene had EMS been delayed in arriving, noting that that the department has an average of about four calls each day, and the Medic Unit even more per year.

Upon EMS arrival, Hagemeyer was still without a heartbeat, but was breathing and moving her arms due to the high quality of the chest compressions performed by Mitzi, Snyder and the bystander.

It would take three shocks from a cardiac defibrillator to get Hagemeyer’s heart into a sustained rhythm, Hanstine said.

Throughout the chaos, a family member and co-coach of Hagemeyer’s, Rick, was by her side, encouraging her to breathe, as her team, led by their daughter, Harlee, took a knee, praying for Hagemeyer’s survival.

“The encouragement, the prayers, they all worked. As Robyn was loading this on a stretcher, she was breathing well enough that EMS removed her breathing tube, and Robyn was even talking,” Hanstine said.

Hagemeyer was transported to UPMC Williamsport, where she would spend the next three days, and was fitted with an implanted defibrillator that detects when her heart goes into an unusual rhythm.

“Everyone I just mentioned had a role in Robyn’s recovery, but I want to emphasize the bystanders who performed CPR,” Hanstine stressed.

“According to the American Heart Association, for every one minute somebody is in cardiac arrest, the chances for survival goes down by 10%. Despite the quick response from EMS, we would have started CPR on the five minute mark, reducing her odds in half right from the start. But Mitzi started CPR within a minute of Robyn’s cardiac arrest. If she didn’t, Amber was right behind, and would have started compressions. This single piece of the puzzle is the number one reason why Robyn is here in this building today,” he said.

“EMS does a lot of invasive things, brain tubes, IVs, medications, but the most important part about saving a life without a hospital during cardiac arrest goes back to basics, high quality CPR and early defibrillation,” Hanstine said.

“To the bystanders, the telecommunicators, the EMTs, paramedics, all those who worked cohesively in order to change Robyn’s outcome, you made a difference. You helped save someone. What are the chances,” he said.

Hagemeyer, a Texas native, now living in Montoursville, described Wednesday’s gathering as “overwhelming.”

“I’m blessed beyond measure, but every single person here today played a key role in my survival, and I owe every breath I take to these people,” she said.

Six weeks following the incident, Hagemeyer said she feels fantastic, and is eager to put the incident behind her.

“I have my life back. I have my energy back and I have that missing spunk that kind of had faded away,” she said.

Despite her brush with death, Hagemeyer immediately jumped right back into coaching, leading the two-year-old team to two second place finishes and, ultimately, the District 12, Section 3, PA State, Eastern Regional Champions.

“The root of my team is Montoursville based, and it’s the team that went to states, so we’re really talented, and I couldn’t be more blessed,” she said.

“And talk about maturity. When it happened, they went to center field and got on their knees and prayed. So we jokingly call them my ‘Angels in the Outfield,’ but it’s kind of not a joke. They did something probably just as important as these other first responders,” Hagemeyer, who played as a youth and previously coached at the high school level, said.

“I really wanted to give back to the community and volunteer. This is a travel team, and we’re like family. We practice three days a week, year round. We’re together every weekend. So for this to happen in front of the family, it has only strengthened us,” Hagemeyer said.

A key message Hagemeyer hopes people take away from her story is that if something feels off, to never let it go.

“I had had some concerns, but doctors for years have told me it was likely anxiety, so I was unfortunately misdiagnosed,” she said.

“I was so tired all the time. You don’t realize, over the course of years, that you actually start feeling weak and lethargic,” Hagemeyer said.

“I’ve been told that if I had any comorbidities, obesity, diabetes, anything, I wouldn’t have survived, so it’s important to be healthy, live your best life and stay active,” she said.

“Most importantly, self advocate. If you feel like something’s wrong with you, talk to your doctor. Don’t let it get ignored, because it certainly wasn’t anxiety in my case,” Hagemeyer stressed.