Man Recognizes Gwinnett Firefighters, Colleagues for Saving His Life

A citizen recognized Gwinnett County firefighters and his colleagues Thursday for saving his life last year.

During Gwinnett Fire's monthly FireStat meeting, Brian Altus, the director of sales for Multivista in Peachtree Corners, recognized 12 people for coming to his rescue last October.

You can watch the video of the full ceremony to the right.

While working in his office that day, Altus told a co-worker that he wasn't feeling well. Shortly after, he collapsed, and his co-workers found him unresponsive on the floor. Someone quickly called 911 and three other co-workers began CPR, rescue breathing and chest compressions.

Gwinnett firefighters quickly came to Altus' aid and used a defibrillator to shock him four times. He was sent to the hospital, and was admitted for almost a month. Altus realized that he had been suffering from arrhythmia, which had caused him to feel ill for months before.

Altus said he now feels great. "I feel better than I have in years," he said, and would just like to thank everyone for their help that day.

Jason Weaver, Reef Tanagho, Michael Dorman and Geoff Susskind were the colleagues recognized in the ceremony. The Gwinnett firefighters recognized were:

Ryan Wagoner
Korey Butler
William Miller
Ryan Moore
Charles Spears
Dennis Pishock
Vic Farmer
Dustin Hall