Thursday, July 22, 2010 When Richard “Dick” Kidwell’s son, Adam, joined him on the ranks of the Findlay Fire Department 10 years ago, the pair knew chances were good one or the other would get hurt at a fire.

That time came on June 10 during a fire at Streicher’s Quickprint, 109 S. Main St.

That was the night the elder Kidwell’s heart stopped beating.

“I heard him grasp for air and I could feel his hand on my shoulder,” said Adam Kidwell, 37, who was steps away from his father when he collapsed.

Acting on instinct, Adam called for help over the radio, and alerted firefighters.

“Next thing I know (firefighters) Rod Phillips and Dustin (Ruehle) and Captain (Matthew) Myers were all standing there,” he said.

They gave Kidwell oxygen and hooked him up to an automated external defibrillator.

Against the odds, the shock worked.

“It’s a miracle I am here,” said Kidwell, 60, during an interview this week at Fire Station No.4.

Adam Kidwell, Phillips, Ruehle, Myers, Hanco Emergency Medical Technician-paramedic Tamara O’Leary and Hanco Emergency Medical Technician-intermediate Jeremy Fern were commended earlier this month by City Council for saving Kidwell’s life.

About 95 percent of people who go into cardiac arrest, which is when the heart stops, don’t make it, Fern said.

“I was privileged,” Kidwell admitted. “I hit the Lotto.”

Holding back tears, Adam recalled the night he nearly lost his dad.

“It was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with,” he said.

Seconds felt like days as he waited for his dad to arrive at the hospital by ambulance. He beat him to the hospital thanks to a lift from Findlay police Officer David Gonzalez.

In reality, only seven minutes had elapsed from when Kidwell collapsed to when he got to the hospital.

Kidwell doesn’t remember much after arriving at the fire. He was getting hoses hooked up to hydrants and recalled feeling dizzy and overcome with thick smoke from the building.

“I went to lean on (Adam) and that was it for me; I was out,” he said.

He had learned to breathe shallow in smoke, “but it wasn’t working that night,” Kidwell said.

Everyone, including Kidwell, had no idea anything was wrong with him. As it turns out, he had severe blockage in his heart, which, Kidwell believes, was exacerbated by the heavy smoke.

“That’s the worst thing as a firefighter. You never want to hear over the radio that you have a firefighter down,” Ruehle said.

Later that night, from his hospital bed, Kidwell came over the radio and talked to the crews still battling the fire, assuring them he was all right

“I think that was good for the guys to hear,” Ruehle said.

Kidwell, of rural Findlay, now wears a heart monitor and has decided he will retire from the department after 30 years.