Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

On Wednesday, part-time Countryside Fire Protection District Firefighter David Senescu was surrounded by coworkers, whom he considers to be his family, and the team of doctors who saved his life four months ago when he had a heart attack while on duty.

The gathering at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville gave Senescu another opportunity to thank the people who are responsible for him being alive today.

Senescu recalled how Jan. 6 started like any other workday, but by the end of that night his whole life was changed.

It was Friday night when he started his shift at the firehouse, but something wasn’t quite right. “I wasn’t feeling my best, but I wasn’t feeling a heart attack either,” Senescu said. His discomfort persisted, and since he had eaten a spicy chili meal for dinner, he thought an antacid might help. He also gave in to his vice and smoked a cigarette.

The following hours were a whirlwind of action in probably the best place he could have been, with paramedics who paid attention to the signs and hooked him up to a monitor that showed he was in distress.

While enroute to the hospital, Countryside Firefighter Daniel McCormick and Firefighter Mike Raasch used a defibrillator three times on Senescu.

“I woke up at one point and heard Mike screaming my name. I asked him what he was screaming for. I thought I had just closed my eyes, but they said they had just shocked me,” Senescu said. “If it wasn’t for those guys, I wouldn’t be here.”

On Wednesday, Senescu said his close call with death has taught him a valuable lesson that he won’t forget or take for granted. Having been a smoker for close to 30 years and quitting suddenly has been a challenge, said the father of two boys, but he added that it’s a challenge he’s willing to take on. He is working to get healthy enough to go back to work at the fire station and be on the other end of a defibrillator, saving other lives along his coworkers.

thanks Dan