MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — On the last day of the ski season in April of 2023, a volunteer ranger at Camelback Mountain Resort suffered a heart attack on the mountain. Quick action by ski patrol and first responders saved his life.
On Wednesday, he was able to reunite with everyone who helped him that day.
Steve Bomberger from Chester County has been a volunteer ranger on the slopes of Camelback Mountain for the last four years. He normally spends his weekends helping guests on the slopes, but on the last day of the season last year, he was the one needing help.
"I noticed that there were some trail markers that had been knocked over, and I skied over to them, and Mike and Rich followed me over. And when I bent down to pick up the trail marker, I became very dizzy," Bomberger recalled.
Mike Brong and Rich Miller, long-time members of Camelback's ski patrol, saw Bomberger collapse and immediately sprang into action. He had stopped breathing and didn't have a pulse.
"I got on the radio and asked for assistance. Mike got Steve ready for the AED, and I began CPR on him," Miller said.
Within minutes, other members of the ski patrol arrived with an AED, and with a single shock, Bomberger woke up.
"The next thing I remember, I was waking up and ski patrol sitting on top of me saying 'Breathe, breathe, breathe,' and 'You can do this. Keep your eyes open.' And I asked them what happened, and they said, 'You had a heart attack.'"
Bomberger was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital - Pocono, where he had emergency heart surgery.
On Wednesday, the hospital honored the ski patrol members and the doctors who acted that day to save Bomberger's life.
"I wasn't exercising, I wasn't overexerting. I was just skiing down the mountain—right place, right time," Bomberger said.
"26 years of CPR training, everyone who ever trained me, was with me on the mountain that day," Miller said.
Bomberger says he's grateful for everyone who saved his life that day, allowing him to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding six months later.