Ho-Ho-Kus October 5, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 11 Minchin, Bodart commended for lifesaving efforts by Jennifer Crusco Two Ho-Ho-Kus police officers have received letters of commendation from Police Chief John Wanamaker for taking extreme measures to aid a woman who was having a heart attack during Hurricane Irene. Early on Aug. 28, the storm was in full force and had already turned Franklin Turnpike into a veritable river that cut off access from Ho-Ho-Kus to Ridgewood, where Valley Hospital is located. At 10:30 that morning, Sergeant Christopher Minchin and Detective Jaime Bodart received word that a man on North Maple Avenue near Brookside Avenue was gesturing to Chief Wanamaker in an effort to indicate that a woman in a vehicle was having a heart attack. Due to the flooding, the North Maple Avenue Bridge was closed, leaving no easy access to the patient. Minchin and Bodart wasted no time. They readied their medical equipment and drove to the Warren Avenue Bridge, which is out of service and under construction, but the two decided to walk across the structure. “We tried to kick open the chain link fence,” Minchin said, adding that the security fence could not be breached. Thinking on their feet, he and Bodart decided to walk across the 18-inch catwalk on the side of the bridge. “Very gingerly, we took baby steps to the other side of the roadway,” Minchin explained. The officers quickly located the woman and administered oxygen to her. Minchin said Ridgewood Police Officer Shane James was ultimately able to drive to the area where the woman was located, and James and Minchin took the woman to Valley Hospital. Minchin added that Ridgewood was also underwater, but James drove through the flood. The woman, who was described as a Florida resident, fared well, Minchin reported. “I think this was worse than Floyd, but our reaction was better,” Minchin said, referring to the tropical storm that caused severe flooding in New Jersey in September 1999. “It was something that had to be done,” Bodart said of the incident. “I’m grateful we were able to get to her, and that Ridgewood was able to get to her.” Ho-Ho-Kus resident John Simon Jr. of Brookside Avenue witnessed the officers’ (continued on page 18)