By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Stephen Barse remembers riding his bike up the Ocean City-Longport Bridge on Labor Day weekend, but everything else is a blank.
When he reached the top of the bridge, he collapsed from a heart attack and was lying motionless on the shoulder of the roadway, just out of the way of traffic. He was dying.
Among the people who rushed to his aid were two Ocean City police officers who had a defibrillator to restore his heartbeat.
Barse, 61, recalled his brush with death on Sept. 1 during remarks Monday at Ocean City’s last City Council meeting of 2019. He came to the meeting simply to express his thanks to the police officers for saving his life – and to the city for having the foresight to equip the police department with defibrillators.
“I will continue to vacation here. We love it,” he said.
Clearly moved by Barse’s dramatic story, members of Council and Mayor Jay Gillian said Barse’s survival was an extraordinary way to celebrate the end of the year.
“That’s a great gift for us,” Councilman Keith Hartzell told Barse.
Barse, a Vineland attorney, said his family has been visiting Ocean City since the 1960s and owns a vacation home in the resort.
On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Barse and his cousin were riding back to Ocean City after a bike trip to Atlantic City.
“I remember going up the bridge. I didn’t have any chest pains or symptoms,” Barse said in an interview after the Council meeting.
He learned later that a few good Samaritans initially came to his aid, including a nurse. A police officer from Egg Harbor Township also responded to the scene, along with the two Ocean City officers who had the defibrillator.
“The doctor said that’s what saved his life,” Barse’s wife, Patty, said of the defibrillator.
Initially, Barse was rushed by ambulance to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center. Later, he was transferred to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia.
Patty Barse noted that her husband was in a coma for 10 days.
“It’s an absolute miracle,” she said of his survival.
Barse said he previously had no history of heart trouble and considers himself in great shape. He is now fully recovered.
“He’s a tough man,” Mayor Gillian said to Patty Barse while talking with Barse after the Council meeting.
Among the city officials who greeted Barse after the meeting was Business Administrator George Savastano.
With a smile, Savastano shook Barse’s hand and told him, “Good to see you. Good to have you here.”
