A Life Saved, A Donation To Cetronia Ambulance

It no doubt seemed like any other day when Connie Snyder, a senior product coordinator, went to work at Day-Timers Inc. in Trexlertown in August 1997. But on that particular day, her coworkers and a paramedic would come to her rescue.

The Easton resident collapsed in her cubicle and fell to the floor. Her coworkers called for an ambulance and began to perform CPR. Within eight minutes, a crew arrived from the Cetronia Ambulance Corps, including paramedic Bruce Bray, to respond to the cardiac arrest call.

Bray administered a shock from a defibrillator, gave Snyder medication and retrieved her pulse. By the time the ambulance arrived at the emergency room at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Snyder had arrested two more times and was in critical condition.

Snyder, then age 50, later made a full recovery, after receiving an implantable defibrillator and a pacemaker.

In many ways, it was work as usual for the Cetronia Ambulance Corps.

But Snyder, after her recovery, was determined to thank Bray personally for saving her life and giving her more time with her loved ones.

Snyder later sent Bray a letter to again thank him. “She was just happy living life and so thankful,” Bray recalled. “I’m just appreciative that I could extend her life so she could accomplish the things she wanted to.”

Snyder moved to Florida in 2009 and passed away in December 2010 at age 63 during surgery for heart valve problems. Her coworkers at Day Timers subsequently decided that not only would they donate to Snyder’s church in Florida, they also would donate to the Cetronia Ambulance Corps.

Five of Snyder’s coworkers went to the Cetronia Ambulance Corps Operations Center on Broadway in South Whitehall on Wednesday, March 23, to present the $100 donation to Bray and other officials of the ambulance company.

“You gave us a chance to befriend her for another 13 years,” coworker Judith Maurer told Bray when presenting the check. Maurer was accompanied by coworkers Blanche Chilcote, Eileen Confer, Linda Borgerr and Michele Stauffer.

Bray, 48, of Whitehall Township, has been involved in emergency services since he joined a youth program with the Whitehall Emergency Squad at age 16. He became a member of the Cetronia Ambulance Corps 25 years ago, first as a volunteer and then as a paid employee.

He also has been a volunteer firefighter for the Whitehall Fire Department’s Station 36 for 28 years.

But the paramedic said he was just doing his job the day he responded to the call to help Snyder. “I’m not here to look for recognition and glory,” Bray said. “I’m just somebody who did his job.”

Cetronia Ambulance Corps, founded in 1955, is one of the largest providers of ambulance services in eastern Pennsylvania.