Former Bayonne Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell was standing in the conference room of his Asbury Park office on May 3 when one of his coworkers looked out the window and saw a woman floundering in the frigid waters of Wesley Lake, a narrow but deep body of water separating the city from the village of Ocean Grove.
A retired Bayonne firefighter, O’Donnell and co-worker Vincent Cinello ran out of the office to see if they could reach the woman struggling on the far side of the lake.
A boy who had parked his car along Lake Street, on the Asbury Park side, dove into the water intent on swimming across to the woman. O’Donnell and Cinello realized they could reach the woman sooner by running around the end of the lake, or crossing one of the two footbridges that straddle the lake.
“In the span of a couple minutes, they witnessed the fall, called 9-1-1, ran to the victim, jumped into the freezing water to pull her out and perform lifesaving CPR.” – Neptune OEM.
____________
She was not breathing and had no pulse. Of the three people on the scene, O’Donnell was the only one with CPR training. He attempted to revive the woman.
Meanwhile, according to the Neptune Office of Emergency Management, a 9-1-1 call reported a woman who appeared to be drowning.
“Multiple police department, fire department and EMS units responded quickly to the scene from both Neptune and Asbury Park,” the report said. “Upon arrival they found that several bystanders with no relation to the victim had already jumped into the water and pulled the unresponsive woman onto shore.”
A lifesaver
OEM said O’Donnell’s CPR had restored the woman’s ability to breathe, although she had not regained consciousness.
“Emergency services had simultaneously arrived on-scene to render aid, and transported her to the hospital where she remains in stable condition,” the report said. She regained consciousness at the hospital.
OEM commended O’Donnell and the others for their effort, noting that they had saved the woman’s life.
“In the span of a couple minutes, they witnessed the fall, called 9-1-1, ran to the victim, jumped into the freezing water to pull her out and perform lifesaving CPR,” the report said. “These everyday heroes were more than willing to stop what they were doing and put themselves in harm’s way for someone they had never met. They are an example of what makes this community great, and makes all emergency responders proud to serve it.”
O’Donnell, who is still a resident of Bayonne, works for a lobbying firm with an office in Asbury Park. Until last year, he served as the assemblyman in 31st District, which includes Bayonne and part of Jersey City.
O’Donnell, a former fire captain, is now retired from the Bayonne Fire Department. He had been city public safety director during the administration of Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith administration, leaving that post following Mayor James Davis’s victory in the municipal runoffs last year.
O’Donnell and wife, Kerry, have three children, Caroline, 13, Jack, 11, and Patrick.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.