Mark Macala was supposed to go into the office Thursday, but he needed to meet a contractor, so he did his information technology work for PPG Industries from home.
State Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Allegheny County, also had no intention of being home Thursday afternoon — but when plans shifted, he ended up back in his Bridgeville neighborhood to change clothes before heading Downtown.
“Luckily I did that, because the FedEx driver had just collapsed before I got there,” said Mr. Robinson.
At 12:23 p.m. Thursday, a FedEx delivery driver approached Mr. Macala’s front door, delivered a package, and then collapsed on the lawn. For nearly seven minutes before emergency services arrived, Mr. Macala and his neighbor, Mr. Robinson, helped to save the man’s life.
The FedEx driver was recovering at St. Clair Hospital, said Mr. Robinson. His condition was not released, nor was the medical circumstances that led to his collapse.
Mr. Macala, 45, said he was expecting the package next week, so he was unsure who was at the door when he heard the doorbell ring. He was in the middle of working, but his cellphone was in his pocket.
He opened the door as the FedEx worker placed a second box on his doorstep. After asking how his day was, Mr. Macala asked him how many boxes were left.
“As he was going to answer, he just collapsed… like [a] lifeless collapse,” said Mr. Macala.
Video from a camera across the street shows the man falling like a plank.
Mr. Macala jumped down beside him, pulled his phone from his pocket and called 911. As he answered emergency response questions, he tried to pry the man’s mouth open, which was clenched tight as his breathing faded.
Mr. Robinson said he was just pulling into his driveway and thought Mr. Macala, who lives just across the street, might be pulling weeds and talking on the phone.
But he quickly realized that wasn’t the case.
“I looked down, and there was a person laying on the ground in front of his house. So I just ran over there,” he said.
As Mr. Macala continued talking to the police, Mr. Robinson flipped the man over and worked on opening up his airway by leaning his head back and releasing his jaw. 911 operators directed the men to perform chest compressions, which Mr. Macala started after they heard labored breaths.
“It was the longest five minutes of my life,” Mr. Macala said. “You could hear sirens, and you’re just hoping they get there faster.”
Once EMS services arrived, along with the Bridgeville fire and police departments, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Macala took a step back from the scene. The two men answered questions and watched paramedics work for about 30 minutes on the lawn, they said.
They were called back to help lift the man onto a gurney, at which point Mr. Macala said they began to see eye movement.
“The eye movement was the optimism… we were hopeful at that point,” he said.
But now the man is in the hospital, and Mr. Macala doesn’t know his name.
“It’s one of those things that’s kind of tearing me up all day, keeping me from sleeping all night – not knowing the status of this stranger,” he said. “I’m just hoping he’s okay.”
Mr. Macala thinks there was a lot of luck involved: he was home, he had his phone on him and Mr. Robinson’s car pulled in across the street. The two men have been friendly for the past eight years they’ve been neighbors, Mr. Macala said.
“Our paths don't necessarily cross a lot, but when they do, it's always a good conversation,” he said. “It was two people who saw somebody needing help. I'm fortunate that he was there.”
The senator for the 37th district agrees.
It isn’t the first time Mr. Robinson has put aside political work to be a neighbor – in 2020, he returned a wallet he found belonging to Pam Iovino, the Democrat he was running against for the Senate seat, according to KDKA.
Mr. Robinson, who spent his teenage years working as a lifeguard before he joined the Marines, told the Post-Gazette, “If there’s a problem, or somebody needs help, I think that you have a responsibility to do all that you can.
“I try to stay away from all those political games,” he said. “Life’s too short for games. You’ve just got to do what’s right and keep moving forward.”
Mr. Macala has helped people reach the top shelf in grocery stores and pushed cars to help start them, but hasn’t been in a situation like this one before.
“Those are just trying to be a nice person. This is emergency response,” he said.
Though he has been through CPR training in the past, years without using it meant he felt unprepared. He said he has already begun talking to Mr. Robinson about a community CPR training day, since he’s just the guy to help with that.
FedEx spokeswoman Heather Wilson expressed gratitude for the two neighbors’ “quick action in coming to our team member’s aid.”
“I found out that the [FedEx driver] is a year younger than me,” said Mr. Macala. “I don’t know what happened to him, but it could happen to anybody.”
First Published: June 14, 2024, 9:36 p.m.
Updated: June 15, 2024, 6:44 p.m.
