N.J. Police and citizens help save trucker's life after Turnpike crash
by Brian T. Murray/The Star-Ledger Tuesday March 31, 2009, 7:17 PM
Good fortune, good police work and good Samaritans helped save the life of a trucker who suffered an apparent heart attack and crashed his rig near the entrance to the New Jersey Turnpike in Edison today, State Police said.
Robert R. Harrington, 44, of Fitchburg, Mass., remains in critical condition at JFK Medical Center in Edison where he was taken after he was resuscitated at the scene by a State Trooper and a New York fireman who witnessed the accident.
The crash occurred at about 10 a.m. near the toll plaza leading from Route 287 to the Turnpike, police said. Harrington's rig passed through the toll booth, but then suddenly veered across eight lanes of traffic, jackknifed and crashed into a guardrail. Miraculously, no other vehicles were struck, police said.
"He wasn't breathing when the trooper got to him," said Sgt. Steven Jones, a State Police spokesman. "Trooper Sean Fitzgerald, with the help of Tom Brennan, a New York firefighter, resuscitated him and kept him going until medics arrived. He's still in critical conditions, but still alive."
State Police are crediting Fitzgerald and Brennan with saving Harrington's life. But Fitzgerald credited others at the scene. Attempts by other motorists to help was inspiring, he said.
"I got there in four minutes or less. I was on the other side of the Turnpike when I got the call. ... His tractor trailer had cut across the toll plaza and ended up perpendicular to the ramp, blocking it," said Fitzgerald, 29, a four-year State Police veteran who is stationed at the Cranbury baracks. "Bystanders were carrying (Harrington) out of the truck when I got there."
Brennan, of Pearl River, N.Y., called in the accident and started performing CPR on Harrington.
Fitzgerald grabbed a defibrillator from his patrol car, and both men gave the unconscious trucker two jolts, hoping to revive him.
"We performed CPR and attached the defibrillator to his chest and provided two shocks because he was not breathing," Fitzgerald said. "We just continued ... until paramedics arrived and advised us he was breathing again. The defibrillator was a big help."
Fitzgerald said this is the first time he has had to use the defibrillator, which he carries in his cruiser.
"As a trooper, you see more negative than positive out there," he said. "It feels good when you can help someone and it feels good knowing that all those people had stopped to help before I got there."
A New Jersey state trooper and off-duty firefighter saved the life of a trucker who crashed on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Middlesex County in New Jesey. 
A tractor-trailer veered across eight traffic lanes and jackknifed into a guardrail Tuesday morning near a turnpike entrance ramp in Edison just off route 287. Robert Harrison, the 44-year-old driver, suffered an apparent heart attack following the crash.

Trooper Sean Fitzgerald applied a defibrillator and began CPR when he realized Harrington wasn't breathing. Firefighter Tom Brennan assisted with CPR until an ambulance arrived.

Harrington, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, was taken to an area hospital and is listed in critical condition. No other vehicles were struck during the crash.

Authorities said others at the scene also assisted, including a turnpike employee and two motorists who carried Harrington out of the truck as police arrived. Fitzgerald said he had never used the defibrillator before Tuesday.

"As a trooper, you see more negative than positive out there," Fitzgerald said. "It feels good when you can help someone and it feels good knowing that all those people had stopped to help before I got there."

State Police Sergeant Stephen Jones said the crash was likely caused by a medical issue, but they are still investigating.