Heartfelt Thanks

Gene Burton survives heart attack due to quick action by his wife and firefighters, one of which is a former student

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Dec 2, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

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An ambulance transported Gene to Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center, where he was stabilized. Once there, Becker heard the patient’s first and last names and realized Gene was his band and choir teacher from fifth through eighth grades. Becker had played the saxophone at East Orient Elementary School.

Matthews, who was updating Tami on Gene’s condition, introduced Becker as one of her husband’s former students.

“Can I give you a hug?” she asked.

“That was a touching moment,” Matthews said.

After doctors stabilized him, Gene was transported to Providence, where doctors inserted two stents, or mesh tubes, into his heart to prop open two clogged arteries. One artery was totally blocked with plaque. Another was partially blocked.

On Wednesday, Nov. 26, Becker called his old teacher at the hospital.

“Don’t tell me you’re one of the paramedics who saved me,” Gene said, before breaking down in tears. “It was amazing.”

They ended the conversation by wishing one another a happy Thanksgiving.

Matthews credits Tami — who works at Centennial High School as head secretary — with much of the call’s success.

“She’s as much a part of this as any of us,” he said. “Had she continued to drive to the hospital, we’d be looking at probably a very different outcome.”

Gene agreed.

“I owe her my life,” he said. “Because of Tami’s quick response, my cardiologist says I’ll have minimal damage and will be completely healed in eight weeks.

“I am so thankful. You just can’t say thank you enough.”

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