When someone shouted, “Call 911!” in an American Airlines lounge at LaGuardia Airport last November, Marine Corps Lt. Col. Patrick Kelly did not hesitate.
The lifelong Oyster Bay resident, a Lynbrook police officer and Marine Corps reservist, rushed to help an 88-year-old man who had collapsed and become unresponsive. Within moments, Kelly was performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and ultimately helped save the man’s life.
For those actions, the Town of Oyster Bay honored Kelly with a ceremony at its board meeting on Tuesday, recognizing him and other first responders whose quick thinking and training saved lives in three separate incidents.
“I heard somebody say, ‘Call 911,’ and you could tell there was some commotion,” Kelly recounted after the event. “It was obvious immediately in the moment — you could tell this guy was in trouble.”
The incident occurred on Nov. 1 in LaGuardia’s Terminal B, while Kelly was waiting for a flight to New Orleans on military assignment to the 4th Marine Division’s headquarters there.
He said he found the man sitting beside his wife on a bench, unconscious. After determining that the man had no pulse and was not breathing, Kelly laid him down and began CPR.
“It was clear that he was in distress,” he said. “I couldn’t feel a pulse. He wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t responsive.”
After several rounds of chest compressions, the man began taking what Kelly described as a single deep, labored breath. A weak pulse returned, and Kelly placed him in a recovery position as the man began vomiting. A Port Authority police officer arrived shortly afterward, followed by emergency medical personnel, who transported the man to a hospital.
Kelly found out later that the man survived.
“I’ve spoken with the wife several times,” he said. “Her husband did make it. You know, he’s not very well, but he is alive.”
Kelly, 41, a member of the Lynbrook Police Department for 13 years, credited his military and law enforcement experience for making his response instinctive.
“There weren’t a lot of folks that looked like they were inclined to get involved, either,” he said. “So it was really right place, right time for all of us to be able to help this guy.”
Kelly served in the Marine Corps beginning in 2004, and joined the reserves in 2011. He recently returned from his fourth deployment to the Middle East, where he took part in Operation Inherent Resolve, in Iraq, as well as military operations against Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. Shortly after he got home, he assumed command of the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, now based at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.
Military service runs deep in Kelly’s family. Relatives in both the Navy and Marines inspired him to serve, he said, and the Sept. 11 attacks reinforced that decision while he was a student at Chaminade High School.
At the town ceremony, Supervisor Joseph Saladino praised Kelly’s decisive action. “His selfless and skilled actions represent the best in all of us: kindness, compassion, the ability to act decisively and courageously when a fellow citizen in need,” Saladino said. “Officer Kelly is truly an American hero.”
While grateful for the recognition, Kelly added that he hoped it would also reflects positively on the Marine Corps and law enforcement.
“It’s nice to know that you know something like this could bring some attention to those communities,” he said.
Kelly said he also hoped his experience would encourages more people to learn CPR. He urged families to discuss emergency plans and practice basic responses before a crisis occurs.
“You will save someone’s life, potentially, and it could be a stranger, but it could be in your own home, too,” he said. “If they’re important to you, I would recommend making sure you have a good working knowledge of CPR.”
Kelly was one of several first responders recognized by the town. Bay Constables Sgt. Carmine Montesano and Kim Allstadt were honored for rescuing a missing swimmer near Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park and Marina in June. Bay Constables Robert Wallace, James Altadona III and William Monjardo were recognized as well, for using tourniquets and other emergency care to save the life of an off-duty Suffolk County police officer who suffered catastrophic injuries in a boating accident in Amity Cut on July 1.
