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Years after they gave her a chance for survival following a massive heart attack, Joella Bobak wants to help keep her fellow Pennsylvania firefighters safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That's why the Upper Yoder Township volunteer firefighter has been spending her spare time sewing masks for her colleagues, as well as first responders and hospital workers across the state.
"A lot of them were very surprised," Bobak said about the reaction her fellow firefighters when she delivered a batch of masks she had assembled. "I owe them my life"
That's not hyperbole on Bobak's part. On June 21, 2013, she had been feeling ill at home, and her husband had been asking if she needed to go to the emergency room. Bobak said no, but as she was walking into the bathroom, she collapsed.
"Thankfully, my husband was right behind me when I collapsed," she said. "By the time he caught me, I had already turned purple."
Firefighters from her department where she had been a volunteer for decades arrived at her house. They performed CPR for nearly an hour and gave her seven defibrillator shocks to stabilize her for the short trip to the hospital.
In the ER, she went into cardiac arrest a second time, but doctors were able to stabilize her again. Finally, she was diagnosed with a 100 percent blockage in one of her arteries, which led to the heart attack that is commonly known as "the widow-maker."
Surgery was performed on Bobak, and the blockage in the artery was removed. Surgeons also temporarily implanted an Impella heart pump that would help move blood through her body.
Complications arose following the surgery, however, and Bobak was in a coma for four days. Despite that set back, she was still able to leave the hospital on June 28, seven days later. Once out of the hospital, rehab and continued treatment followed.
"It's been a long road to recovery," Bobak said.
But her harrowing cardiac episode hasn't stopped her from continuing to serve as a volunteer firefighter.
"I do it all. … I have no limitations," she said.
If anything, Bobak's experience has added a dimension to her role with the department. When calls involving cardiac emergencies come in, she heads out not only to help with the patient but also provide knowledgeable support
"I'm with the family," she said. "I explain to them what's going on and I tell them that this is something the person can survive."
With the COVID-19 pandemic, Bobak is using another skill set to help others: sewing. She started producing masks when she heard about
"The whole process started when I found out that firefighters didn't have the equipment they needed," she said. "I started doing some research, and I found I could do the masks myself."
Bobak has run into a few challenges when it comes to making the masks.
"Honestly, the hardest part I've encountered has been coming up with the non-woven materials," she said. "Everybody is just making (masks) out of cotton and I needed something non-woven to go along with the woven to give us a little extra protection. Not just from when we cough and particles that come from us, but to try to protect everyone from particles coming in from other people."
Elastic for the masks also has been tough to find.
"I've been improvising and adapting as I go along," Bobak said, crediting her firefighter training with instilling the importance of always having a Plan B. "Being a female, I have a lot of ponytail holders. So you find the extra-long ones, cut them, and they work really well. Headbands have become another (alternative)."
So far, Bobak's mask production has been a solo project. But she kids that she might enlist her husband, son and fellow firefighters to help out eventually.
"That'll be our next training at the firehouse, teaching the guys how to sew," she said.
