ROY, Utah — Kevin Mann, 60, lived by the law enforcement motto, “To protect and to serve,” as a longtime officer with the Ogden Police Department.
“I was on the SWAT team for 11 years,” he said.
Mann's career spanned 25 years in all at Ogden PD until he retired in 2016.
Although he’d never take the glory, saving lives was just part of the job.
Now, it was his turn to be the beneficiary of lifesaving measures.
On Aug. 19, Mann ran some errands and ended up at his local pharmacy.
He said the day had begun like any other. Mann went to the gym that morning and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
It was only a few hours later, he suffered sudden cardiac arrest. Mann says he never saw it coming.
“I don’t even remember stopping at the pharmacy,” Mann said. “I don’t have a family history of heart issues.”
Turns out, when Mann got to his hometown pharmacy in Roy, employees who knew him well thought something wasn’t right.
“[Mann] walked up to the counter and put his hands on the counter and looked up at us, and then he just fell over backwards,” said Joe Burum, the owner and a pharmacist at Midland Pharmacy. “I had my technician roll him to a recovery position and then I got on the phone with 911.”
Burum then started CPR. He told FOX 13 News on Tuesday that he’d never done CPR on someone before.
“I was hoping I'd never have to use it,” Mann added.
His wife, Stacy, remembers the phone call she received from a local police officer.
“Kevin's had an incident at the pharmacy, he's collapsed, he’s being taken to Ogden Regional,” Stacy said.
It was the serious nature of this particular call that Stacy wasn’t expecting.
“I was really concerned when they said they were able to revive him,” Stacy said. “Kevin had CPR and lifesaving processes for 15 minutes, he had to be defibrillated seven times to get a steady pulse."
Testing revealed Kevin suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. He spent the next three days in the ICU at MountainStar Healthcare's Ogden Regional Medical Center.
“They put a defibrillator in my chest so that if it decides to ever stop again, it, they say that it'll shock me,” Kevin said.
On Tuesday, Kevin, the public-servant-turned-patient, was at the Roy City Council meeting to honor all of the men and women who helped play a part in saving his life. That included the pharmacy employees, the first responders from Roy Fire & Rescue and Emergency Room professionals from Ogden Regional.
“It's because of the pharmacist who took action… and the fire department executed their jobs perfectly and lastly, Ogden Regional Medical Center,” Chief Williams said, in part.
Representatives from Ogden Regional Medical Center called them up one by one to recognize them.
“I'm so thankful that he's around because he's, he's one of the family,” Burum said.
“I think you can ask just about anybody and they'll tell you how awesome he is,” Stacy added about her husband.
“What can you say, other than a big thank you. The biggest thank you,” Kevin added.
He says he’s glad to know there are people who continue to go into public service to save lives.
