02/20/2026
Paramedic David Martinek and EMTs Rebecca Goutis and Gabby Henry were called "saviors" by a bilateral lung transplant patient they recently treated.
"On Wednesday, January 28th, I had an overwhelming coughing attack while doing a breathing exercise. Then suddenly I felt what was like a pop in my chess, and got this feeling of a heavy weight sitting on my chest.
At that point I could barely breath, and was struggling to take a breath. Immediately I knew I had a problem, so I quickly checked my oxygen percentage, which was 53%.
I called my case manager and then 911.
The Med Techs showed up very quickly, in about 5 minutes or so from my call. I explained my situation to them. They proceeded to calm me down, quickly get me on oxygen, do an EKG, and put a cuff on me to monitor my blood pressure.
I have two friendly dogs which the techs handled very well also, even using treats I have in the house, to bribe them into another room to get them out of the way, and prevent them from exiting the house when they moved me out the door.
They all showed the utmost respect to me, my dogs, and my house. They treated me like I was family, with great care, and concern. After they got me breathing better on oxygen, they proceeded to take me to Henry Ford Hospital, where the ER took over from there.
I can’t thank them enough as they saved my life that day, and I will always be internally grateful, as I consider them my Heroes.
Please send my sincere thanks to those fine techs for me, and let them know that was a job well done."