Highland Park commends ‘guardian angels’ for saving Northbrook man’s life

August Swanenberg had just finished his daily walk in the Chicago Botanic Garden one morning last March when his heart stopped beating. 

The last thing the 69-year-old Northbrook resident remembers is turning his SUV onto Northbrook Road. Then, he lost consciousness and swerved across three lanes of traffic before stopping in the middle of the roadway.

Swanenberg was alone in the face of oncoming traffic while slumped over the wheel. He did not have a pulse. 

“That’s when my guardian angels moved into high gear,” Swanenberg said on Tuesday in the City of Highland Park council chambers, addressing the handful of individuals to whom the city awarded formal commendations for their role in the “chain of survival” that rescued Swanenberg.

“I’m so very grateful to each of you,” he said. “I need to emphasize that I would not be standing here today had Officer (Ginger) Stokes not pulled her AED unit from behind her patrol vehicle’s driver seat and shocked my heart back to life.”

Highland Park police officer Stokes received the formal recognition alongside Winnetka dentist Dr. Michael Czarkowski, who first found Swanenberg unconscious in the roadway. 

Dr. Benjamin Feinzimer, of Endeavor Health’s Physician Response Team, and Highland Park firefighters Kevin Best, Andrew Beverly, Trevor Mount and Nick Traske, who all helped resuscitate Swanenberg in an ambulance after his heart stopped a second time, also received recognition. 

“When you hear about this, it sounds like maybe a button was pushed, a life was saved, and we’re all moving on,” Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said before handing out the awards. 

“But that is not moving on from the incredible, incredible effort of everyone, every person involved,” he continued. “If you take anyone out of this chain we would not be standing here today having this celebration of life.”

Swanenberg noted he had driven to the Chicago Botanic Garden an hour later than normal for him on March 11 as daylight savings had just begun. Likewise, Stokes told him the reason she was driving through the particular area while on patrol that morning was to see if any daffodils were blooming.

But instead of seeing flowers, Stokes spotted Swanenberg’s car around 8:50 a.m. facing the wrong direction of traffic and surrounded by two other vehicles in the 700 block of County Line Road. 

On scene, Czarkowski alerted Stokes that the driver was unresponsive and helped pull Swanenberg out from the car. Stokes connected her defibrillator, which detected a life-threatening heart rhythm, and applied a shock before conducting chest compressions. Firefighters then arrived and took over. 

Feinzimer said he’s witnessed many cardiac arrests in the field but it’s crucial that police officers take quick action because they often arrive at medical emergencies before ambulances or fire personnel. 

“A huge percent of the time, if a police officer doesn’t arrive and engage their care, doesn’t perform a shock or deliver care with the AED, there’s nothing we can do,” Feinzimer said.  

“I know how rare this outcome is,” Swanenberg’s daughter Irene, a primary care physician, echoed.  “In the movies it’s often portrayed as something that happens most of the time, but this happens less than 1% of the time — that someone is able to talk and recognize their family members.”

Swanenberg recalled that waking up in Endeavor Health’s Evanston Hospital felt like emerging from a deep sleep as he focused on the reassuring sound of his wife’s voice. He spent three nights in the hospital before he received a pacemaker and was discharged for cardiac rehabilitation. 

The experience led Swanenberg’s daughter Audrey Epp Schmidt to become CPR certified — something she insisted every person should pursue — and forged a bond between the family and Stokes. 

Swanenberg’s relatives refer to the pacemaker in his chest as “little Ginger” in honor of Stokes and added the patrol officer to a group chat named “Ginger’s Fan Club.”

“I have a new family, because I consider them like family; they’re just so truly gracious about the whole situation,” Stokes said. “Until I knew that he was OK there were a lot of emotions going through, like is he going to be OK, but everything worked out.”

People have suggested that Swanenberg play the lottery given all the actions that had to align for him to be found and saved on March 11, but he insisted he’s already won. 

“The one thing I’ve noticed, in the spring, is that the greening of the trees looks more beautiful than it ever does,” Swanenberg said. 

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