Matthew Fredricks with medical students, front row, from left: Aliza Green and Zina Huxley-Reicher; back row, from left: Hayley Lynch, Haley Tupper, Letitia Li, Esben Iberson, Halley Kaye-Kauderer, Matt Spindler, and Jenna Hobeika.
Miracles happen. Kindness matters. A touch of the hand can mean “everything.” Those were some of the messages that Matthew Fredricks delivered on Monday, November 27, when he was reunited with a group of students at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who weeks before had aided and comforted him on a hiking trail when he was having a heart attack.
“In your studies, you are going to learn the mechanics of medicine, you are going to learn all the technical terms and procedures,” Mr. Fredricks said. “But what you guys did instinctively, you can’t be taught that. You showed me compassion, and I am amazingly grateful.”
Mr. Fredricks, a kitchen designer from New City, Rockland County, was at the center of a dramatic rescue on Sunday, October 22, after he collapsed on a steep trail in Harriman State Park. Before he was lifted off the mountain by a helicopter crew—an event shown on local newscasts—he was aided by the group of medical students who were also hiking that day. Weeks later, Mr. Fredricks contacted the Icahn School of Medicine seeking a reunion with the students, and it was arranged at the Annenberg Building.
“You are incredible for making this effort,” David Muller, MD, Dean for Medical Education, and the Marietta and Charles C. Morchand Chair for Medical Education, told Mr. Fredricks. “What happened to you is really rare, but what is even more rare is that you made this effort to find every single person who helped you.”
Matthew Fredricks being lifted from the mountain trail. Courtesy of NYPD
Mr. Fredricks, 59, is an avid hiker and skier, even serving on the National Ski Patrol. A few months before the heart attack, he had what seemed to be persistent heartburn and visited his local primary care doctor and cardiologist, but a stress test and imaging were inconclusive. Mr. Fredricks had hiked the trail—a challenging 2.5-mile round trip—five times in recent months, but on October 22, he stopped near the top because he felt intense pain in his chest and arms. He called it a “miracle” that he was clearheaded enough to pick a resting spot—a flat outcropping of rock—that would be accessible to rescuers. In a second “miracle,” a Pennsylvania couple to whom he had given directions at the bottom of the trail, stopped to ask if he had made it to the top. He told them, “I didn’t, and I’m in trouble.”
The husband called 911 on his cellphone, and then a third “miracle” occurred—the arrival of the Mount Sinai students. The couple asked if they had any medical knowledge. “They were sort of joking, I think,” said Halley Kaye-Kauderer, a second-year student. “I told them ‘Not really, but probably more than anyone else here.’ ” The nine young people are members of WildMed, a group of students interested in the specialty of wilderness medicine—providing emergency care in remote settings. They huddled around Mr. Fredricks, took his pulse, and questioned him about his condition. Letitia Li, a first-year student, folded a lightweight blue towel and put it under Mr. Fredricks’s head. (He kept it, and now wears it “as a fashion statement.”) Second-year students Zina Huxley-Reicher and Aliza Green sat on either side of him. “Aliza simply said, ‘I’m going to hold your hand.’ In that moment, it meant everything,” Mr. Fredricks said, adding that he felt a sense of calm, despite excruciating pain.
After about an hour, emergency responders arrived and sent the students on their way. Mr. Fredricks was taken to the Westchester Medical Center, where a blockage was found in his right coronary artery.
Now he is watching his diet, exercising moderately, and getting follow-up cardiac care. Mr. Fredricks is also trying to thank everyone he can, reaching out to the helicopter pilot, his hospital team, and the rescue workers. He invited the students to go skiing on the mountain he patrols, and he brought each of them a blue towel similar to the one Ms. Li gave him.
“You did the right thing,” Mr. Fredricks told the students who aided him. “Keep doing it. You are in the right place, and you are all amazing people.”
