At its final regular meeting of 2022, the Fanwood Borough Council and Mayor Colleen Mahr honored the people they called True Heroes for intervening during an October automobile accident in which the driver suffered cardiac arrest.

Bridget Keyes, a nurse from Berkeley Heights, went unconscious on October 25, 2022 and crashed her car into a fire hydrant on Martine Avenue. Rose Budka, a radiology technician who happened to be driving by, stopped to assist, assessed that Keyes had no pulse and began CPR. Another passerby, Scotch Plains Fire Battalion Chief Dennis Hercel, also stopped and joined the life-saving effort by taking over CPR. Additional fire units responded including Fanwood Fire Department Captains Vinny Bianco and Tony Grasso, Firefighters Ken Gorman, Sean Manette, Dante Clausen, and Nick Tripodi. Ultimately, Ms. Keyes was transported to a hospital with a pulse. She had a defibrillator implanted and made a full recovery.

“It was determined by hospital staff that the quick reaction by Ms. Budka and Battalion Chief Hercel, along with other responders, is the sole reason the victim survived the incident,” read Mayor Mahr from the proclamation.

Mayor Mahr, Bridget Keyes, Rose Budka and Dennis Hercel

Keyes, Budka and Hercel were reunited at the Council meeting, each receiving a copy of the proclamation. Ms. Keyes had hugs for Ms. Budka and Mr. Hercel and expressed gratitude during brief remarks. She told the Council doctors are still unsure why her heart stopped as she had no apparent underlying condition or previous history of heart problems.

Mayor Mahr took a few minutes to thank the many first responders who attended the Council meeting.

Following routine Council business, Mayor Mahr wrapped up the meeting by handing out each Council member’s annual paycheck for one-dollar as required by the Borough Code.

The Mayor and Council get paid a dollar a year

The Borough Reorganization meeting will be held Monday, January 2, 2023 at 12 noon. The public is invited to attend and join the Council, Mayor and other town officials at a reception at the Carriage House afterward.