By Kelly Rocheleau
The Citizen
AUBURN, N.Y. 鈥� Shelly Delfavero has helped hundreds of people when their lives were at stake, so she went out of her way to thank two people who saved hers earlier this year.
Delfavero, a Cayuga County 911 dispatcher, gave a 911 coin on July 18 to Auburn City Ambulance staff Dan Tomasino and Dan Cooper in gratitude for their help when she had a heart attack on March 7.
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At 3:15 that morning, Delfavero told The Citizen, she woke up at her home with excruciating pain in her chest. Due to her training, she knew what was happening.
鈥淢y arm went numb, and I knew it was my heart,鈥� she said.
Delfavero went to the bedroom of her daughter Bailey Murphy, saying she thought she was having a heart attack and needed to go to a hospital. Murphy called 911 and connected with dispatcher Greg Campbell. As he asked questions about his longtime coworker鈥檚 condition, she asked Murphy to tell him she was calling in sick that day, she said with a laugh.
Noting that one of her arteries was completely blocked, Delfavero said her heart attack was so severe that if she lived any farther away from the ambulance station than Van Anden Street, she might not be around to tell the tale. But Tomasino, a paramedic, and Cooper, an EMS technician, arrived within five minutes of Murphy鈥檚 call.
As they navigated an ice storm to get to St. Joseph鈥檚 Hospital in Syracuse, Delfavero鈥檚 heart stopped several times, requiring the use of a defibrillator. She remembers little from the ride, she said.
鈥淚 remember the potholes,鈥� she said.
Delfavero had nine stents placed, and said her heart health has improved ever since.
Four months later she gave Tomasino and Cooper the coin, which she received from the county 911 center after helping a father administer CPR to his baby in January 2024 .
A 鈥済ood save鈥� like that, Delfavero said, can encourage people in emergency services and remind them 鈥渨hy you do your job and why you do it the best that you can.鈥�
Their quick work, she continued, meant the difference between life and death.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 thank them enough,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e extremely fortunate to have Auburn ambulance and the people that work at Auburn ambulance. And I know if it weren鈥檛 for my paramedic Dan, my chances of making it were to slim-to-none.鈥�
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