Josh Buzzetta never thought he would need to use the
defibrillator that rests behind the desk at Hollister’s Gold’s Gym,
but for 80-year-old Clifford Ray, thankfully he knew how to use it.
It was just a normal Tuesday on June 8 for Buzzetta. He was at the
front desk of Gold’s Gym, watching customers come in, before he was
pulled away to a man sitting lifeless on a leg-lifting machine.
Josh Buzzetta never thought he would need to use the defibrillator that rests behind the desk at Hollister’s Gold’s Gym, but for 80-year-old Clifford Ray, thankfully he knew how to use it.
It was just a normal Tuesday on June 8 for Buzzetta. He was at the front desk of Gold’s Gym, watching customers come in, before he was pulled away to a man sitting lifeless on a leg-lifting machine.
Ray sat there slumped and was unresponsive.
At 9:30 a.m., the shocking developments put Buzzetta quickly into saving mode, he said.
Quickly checking Ray’s pulse and not finding one, Buzzetta realized he needed to do CPR. With help from friends Joe Perry and Jason Broyer, Buzzetta grabbed the gym’s defibrillator and called 911.
“Everything was just very fast,” he said. “I was in shock like everyone else.”
After giving Ray two sets of CPR, the three rescuers hooked up the defibrillator.
“People stepped up and there was no hesitation,” Buzzetta said. “We just jumped right in.”
And after one shock, Roy gasped for air, Buzzetta said. After finding a faint pulse, paramedics arrived on scene.
Ray was rushed to Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital where he was stabilized. From there, he was transferred to Stanford Hospital on Wednesday.
“They told us we saved his life,” Buzzetta said. “I was trained and I put it to use.”
Doctors told Ray’s daughter, Franchette Hoff, and wife, Shigemi Ray, that Ray had an irregular heart beat and his heart had stopped.
Doctors said it was Buzzetta, Broyer and Perry who kept Ray alive long enough for paramedics to come.
“If it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t have lived through this,” Hoff said. “I can’t express how thankful I am.”
Hoff was thankful to those who helped save her father.
Ray, who turned 80 this year, was a member at Gold’s Gym for only two weeks, his daughter said. And it’s that switch from a different gym that she thinks saved his life.
“That’s a godsend,” she said. “That other gym might not have had one.”
Despite being in a hospital and under medical care, Ray already wants to go back to the gym.
“He keeps on saying he needs to get back to the gym.” Hoff said.
Ray visits the gym five days a week and has made a large group of friends, all of which have visited him at Stanford, Hoff said.
“It’s really nice to see everyone cares about dad,” she said.
Meanwhile, Buzzetta, Perry and Broyer continue to get praises from his friends and family.
“People have come in almost everyday to thank us and tell us we are heroes,” Buzzetta said. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
Buzzetta doesn’t see himself as a hero, just someone doing what he is supposed to do.
“We are not heroes – we were just at the right place at the right time.” He said. “We are just blessed.”
Hollister firefighter and the gym’s First Aid trainer Xavier Alvarez sees them as life-savers.
“Anytime something like this happens – it’s the first responders who kept him alive,” he said. “These guys saved his life.”
Gold’s Gym owner Sue Buzzetta was proud of her quick acting employee.
“For him to act that fast and the fact he knew how to use it (defibrillator) – we have never used it before,” she said. ” That’s incredible we had to use it.”
Ray will stay in the hospital until doctors finish testing, Hoff said. It is possible Ray might have surgery in the next week but she is thankful he is still alive.
“It’s been a very turbulent week but we are grateful he made it through it.” She said.
