Riverhead School District

Riverhead school board honors volunteers who saved teacher’s life

tk. (Credit: Jennifer Gustavson)
A group of volunteers were honored Tuesday night for saving teacher Lonnie Hughes’s life last month. (Credit: Jennifer Gustavson)

The Riverhead school board honored a team of Riverhead EMTs and medical volunteers who saved a teacher’s life during an event March 21.

Lonnie Hughes, a fourth-grade teacher at Phillips Avenue Elementary School, collapsed during Riverhead High School’s Crazy Sports Night and went into cardiac arrest.

Mr. Hughes was the anchor of a tug-of-war team, but when the event finished, he fell to the court, witnesses have said.

School board vice president Greg Meyer thanked the volunteers during Tuesday night’s meeting and said Mr. Hughes is expected to return to work this week.

Among those involved with the rescue efforts include: James Nizza, Greg Wallace, Jennifer Kelly, Sameer Anand, Heather Zilnicki, Chris Mazucca, Laura Donahue, Joe Sokolski, Andrej Ceckowski, Chris Flemming, Sandra Ruttkayova, Martin McKenna and Susan Schleef.

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