A heartfelt reunion emerged at St. Paul Fire Station 8 between a man and St. Paul first responders on Tuesday, months after they saved his life. The doctor and nurses who took care of him were also at the reunion. 

Behind the hugs and smiles, gratitude and humility beamed through 55-year-old Robert Peez as he showed appreciation for the first responders and medical team that saved his life. 

“I am a bit out of words, but I’m very, very, very thankful,” he said. 

Peez is from Germany and was in town for a business trip. Peez stayed at the downtown St. Paul Double Tree Hotel last October when he suddenly felt pain in his chest. Peez had asked the front desk to call an ambulance, that’s when everything went black.

“When we got on scene, we walked in and he was already on the ground unconscious. He was a grey color, which we don’t like to see,” said Logan Dedden, the primary St. Paul Fire medic on scene. 

Dedden said Peez didn’t have a pulse. Crews began CPR, shocked him and gave him medication, but there was still no heartbeat.

“We have a fantastic team. They knew exactly what they were doing because every time I looked at somebody to do something, they were already doing what I was going to ask them to do,” Dedden said. 

Dedden explained on the way to the hospital, medics shocked Peez one more time and that’s when he regained circulation and his heart started beating again. 

“By the time that I saw you, you had a pulse, it wasn’t great. We did an EKG and we already saw signs that basically your heart muscle cells were screaming out for oxygen and starting to die,” said Dr. Dan Popa with U of M Medical Center. 

Popa credits paramedics for saving a life, but to Peez they were all stars in this story, all deserving of his gratitude.

“You saved my life. Without you, many people would be unhappy,” Peez said. 

Peez says after returning to Germany, he went to inpatient rehab for four weeks. He also changed his eating habits and is exercising more.