Sometimes heroes benefit from getting a little help.

The hero in this case is Bill Gardell who was able to save his father’s life on October 18 by quickly starting CPR when 69-year-old Dennis Gardell suffered a heart attack in a McDonald’s parking lot in Middletown.

Christina Dunham and Scott Agrusti

The helper was Felician University Nursing student Christina Dunham who was on duty as an emergency medical technician with the Lincroft First Aid squad when a call came in about the medical emergency. When she and her partner, paramedic Scott Agrusti, arrived on the scene they took over doing chest compressions on Gardell, and initiated 9 shocks using an automated external defibrillator (AED) helping to save his life.

Dunham is literally days away from graduating as a nurse from Felician University’s Accelerated Bachelors of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program. She had already earned a BA from Seton Hall University where she majored in both environmental and Catholic Studies, but always knew she wanted to be a nurse. For Dunham, Felician’s 17- month ABSN program was the perfect fit because, “It was convenient and exciting to get a bachelors in a short amount of time. It flew by and was enjoyable. I learned a lot and enjoyed my time,” adding that she’s grateful for Felician where she had, “good professors who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.”

Dunham says the good outcome was the result of a group effort by emergency personnel, some of the them volunteers who know CPR and were able to start it early enough to save Dennis Gardell’s life.