ARUNDEL — Nelson Ballou died for six minutes.
But
the 57-year-old Arundel resident and Middle School of the Kennebunks
math teacher is alive today due to a series of fortunate circumstances,
correct choices and the plan put in place by emergency responders,
including one of his former students.
Now, Ballou is sharing his story in hopes that someone else will have the life-saving outcome he did.
"You
just don't take a heck of a lot for granted anymore," said Ballou, who
is back to teaching at MSK following the incident. "I used to think this
is the type of thing that might happen when I am 75 or 80, you just
never know."
Things changed on the afternoon
of Friday, Sept. 23, when Ballou was jogging on his home treadmill,
preparing for MSK's annual eighth-grade bike trip. About 25 minutes into
his half-hour run, Ballou began to feel a burning in the upper center
of his chest and it hurt to breathe.
"I
thought that's weird. It's the feeling I used to get when I would run
outside in the winter, it would be freezing, and it would almost burn
your lungs," Ballou said. "It wasn't too bad."
So
he finished the remaining five minutes on the treadmill, and began
lifting weights when the pain became more intense. He tried to walk it
off around his yard and then decided to lie down. When Ballou's wife,
Donna, heard him in pain, she called 911.
Five
minutes later, Justin Cooper and his crew from the Arundel Fire Rescue
arrived to find an ashen gray Ballou in significant pain.
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