COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho -- Several North Idaho rescuers are now the recipients of Coeur d'Alene's Life Saving Award for a dramatic rescue that happened a few months ago.
In this case, the person needing help was not a random civilian, but a captain at the Coeur d'Alene fire department.
In front of Coeur d'Alene's city council, rescuers one-by-one-one received an award for bravery. It is an honor bestowed in the presence of Captain Luke Pichette.
Two days after Christmas, fate and fear intertwined at the most unexpected time for Pichette and his wife Jessica.
"At first I thought he was having a stroke. So I fumbled for my phone and started dialing 911," Jessica explained.
Luke was in the middle of a heart attack. With every might of her soul, Jessica stopped at nothing to save him. She did six minutes of nonstop CPR.
"He had told me if I ever had to do CPR to not be gentle about it. So I wasn't and I tried as hard as I could," Jessica said.
To give you an idea of how much that is, trained rescuers are told to have someone else take over after two minutes because it is just so tiring.
When help arrived, rescuers were faced with treating one of their own. Garrett Kitterman was among the first to arrive and had no idea who he was helping until later.
"Engine Four got there and we were thinking, ‘Ok, this is one of our brothers,’" Kitterman said. "It was perfect because we were able to shock him right away and he came right back."
Luke spent the next day-and-a-half in a coma. He woke up on quite the day, not only was it his birthday but it was also his first wedding anniversary.
"She had no support like we do. We have our brothers around us. She was by herself. I'm sure it was lonely. I'm sure it was crazy," Kitterman said.
Jessica was also recognized at the ceremony. But if you call her a hero, like any of these rescuers, she will be quick to correct you.
"They do it every day. They do it every day to people they don't know. It just happened to be one of their brothers," Jessica said.