Sept 23 2026 – Joe Gomes, 64, a retired NYPD officer and 9/11 responder who spent months working at Ground Zero, reunited with the heroes who saved his life at Broward Health Coral Springs.
The Royal Palm Beach resident went into full cardiac arrest on September 11, 2026 — 25 years after the Twin Towers attack — during a hockey tournament between first responders at the Florida Panthers IceDen.
After making a play, he sensed something was wrong, went to the bench, and collapsed. Fellow players recognized the emergency and immediately began performing CPR, using an AED to shock his heart back into rhythm just one minute after it stopped.
Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Rescue transported Joe to Broward Health Coral Springs, where he endured two more cardiac events — one in the emergency room and another right before surgery — before being rushed to the cath lab for a stent procedure.
In all, Joe survived three heart attacks that day: the first at the rink, the second in the ER, and the third just before surgery. Remarkably, he survived with no neurological deficits and was discharged the next day — a case that illustrates the full “chain of survival”: early recognition, immediate CPR, rapid defibrillation, and advanced hospital care.
Joe reunited with members of Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department, North Lauderdale, Coconut Creek Fire Rescue, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Palm Beach County and Jupiter Fire Rescue.
On behalf of Broward Health, Dr. Gary Lai, chief of emergency medicine at Broward Health Coral Springs, presented Joe with the Gift of Life Award.
After the press conference, Joe also met with the cardiac team that jumped into action to clear the arteries in his heart.
