Paramedic brothers save their dad from heart attack in Bohemia home

Robert and Nickolas Coppola spend their careers saving lives as FDNY paramedics but didn’t realize the next life they’d be saving was their father's.

The family had gone to an uncle’s wake Dec. 1, followed by dinner, before returning to their Bohemia home. Their father, Robert Coppola, 55, said he felt burning in his back and bloated before he collapsed lifeless on the floor about 10 p.m. That’s when the two brothers jumped into action to start performing CPR.

“His heart stopped and he was dead when we first got to him,” the younger Robert Coppola said. “The doctor said if we didn’t get to perform CPR as soon as we did, he could have been gone for sure. The CPR saved his life.”

The senior Coppola came home from the hospital this week after undergoing bypass surgery and is recovering well.

"It’s good that they’re trained. I wouldn’t be here. Without them it’s a done story," their father said Wednesday. "You can’t be more proud. My father’s a fireman and the whole family are firemen. I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for them. It’s good they were there.”

The two brothers started their career volunteering for the Bohemia Fire Department. Robert Coppola, 23, is stationed in Harlem and Nickolas Coppola, 27, is part of the Queens Tactical Response Group in Jamaica.

Robert Coppola said his father had a history of heart problems, including two stents, but appeared to be in good health before he collapsed.

"I heard a loud bang from my parents' bathroom and mom called down. My dad was having difficulty breathing and not responding to questions," Nickolas Coppola said. "We started working, doing what we do. We were trying to stay mentally OK, trying to keep myself grounded, it was difficult."

As they went to work on him, their training kicked in as they applied strong chest compressions and used a ventilation kit to keep their father’s airway clear. They called 911 and Suffolk County police and the Community Ambulance Company arrived within five minutes with a defibrillator.

“It was definitely the scariest moment of my life, but I didn’t have to think about it,” Robert Coppola said. “I was trained well and knew I was doing the right thing. I was very scared and went to straight to work.”

The paddles shocked Coppola twice to resuscitate him to breathe on his own and he regained consciousness as Nickolas and paramedics were loading him into the ambulance about 10 minutes later.

"He told me he was awake and we hugged," Robert Coppola said. "It was instant relief."

The Community Ambulance Company took the senior Coppola to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore. Doctors found three total blockages in the arteries to his heart, including one known as “the widowmaker.” At the hospital, he immediately underwent a triple bypass.

Robert Coppola, the son, said being around family members trained to perform proper CPR gives heart attack victims the best chance to be resuscitated and survive.

“I’m so happy and feel blessed to know he’s OK. I wouldn’t want anyone to help him besides me and it’s a good feeling that he’s come back home,” Coppola said. “I definitely feel a lot more appreciative of everything we have and it shows you never know what tomorrow’s going to bring. It taught me to stay on my A-game.”

With Steve Pfost