David Nenn, 49, went into cardiac arrest June 9, 2022, two weeks before his wedding with Bridget O'Brien.
Hamlin’s recovery is credited largely to the immediate response of the medical staff. When Nenn went into cardiac arrest, the doctors gave credit to the bystander who began administering CPR, O’Brien said.“What saved Dave’s life and what saved Damar’s life was that the sooner that people can get CPR the better likelihood that they’re going to not only live but also not have long term organ damage,” O’Brien said.
Initially, O’Brien, who teaches at Liberty Junior High School in New Lenox, said she couldn’t believe what she was being told because Nenn didn’t appear sick or act unusual that morning.When the paramedics arrived, they used a defibrillator on Nenn in the parking lot and then again as they arrived at Silver Cross Hospital, he said.The hospital’s interventional cardiologist, Dr. Hazem Alhawasli, said in a news release Nenn’s labs revealed the front artery of his heart was completely blocked.
Nenn had heart surgery to put in three stents to help blood flow to the heart and other organs, Alhawasli said. Two days after the surgery, Nenn was taken off the ventilator, he said. The couple married as planned June 25, and the only detail they had to adjust for was hiding Nenn’s heart monitor, which he had to wear for a few months, under his suit jacket.