On Wednesday, November 8, the South Suburban Parks and Recreation Board of Directors had a unique opportunity to celebrate the heroic efforts of a dedicated employee, Vicki Holthus, Community Tennis Coordinator. Last June 16, Vicki performed CPR on a tennis patron, Al Clerihue, at the Holly Tennis Center and he survived to share the honor bestowed upon her by South Metro Fire Rescue on November 8.

Public Information Officer of South Metro Fire Rescue, Andy Lyon, shared this comment concerning the incident, " 'Saves' like this are very rare in our business. The majority of the time, patients like this do not survive and when they do, often enough it is bystander CPR which makes it possible."

Holthus is a long-time South Suburban employee who oversees all the District's tennis programs and has participated in CPR training several times during her tenure. She is one among the 90 employees who received CPR training in 2005.

South Metro Firefighter/Paramedic, Heidi Simon, responded to the on scene at the Holly Tennis Center, 7751 S. Krameria Way, on June 16 and commented "The effort kept the patient's heart oxygenated and made the heart better able to accept the electricity that we delivered by defibrillator (AED) which got his heart pumping again. The excellent CPR provided by Ms. Holthus was a critical part of the successful outcome. She's a hero, absolutely."

South Metro Fire Rescue gave the Citizen Lifesaving Award to Holthus at South Suburban's public board meeting on November 8. Numerous family members, coworkers and friends joined her to show unanimous support for her honor.

Jean Flynn is in community relations for South Suburban Parks and Recreation.