Firefighter honored for saving neighbor

It was a typical Sunday for Leo Veseling -- right up until he saved a man's life.

Of course, he doesn't see it that way.

"The way I look at it is everybody there made a difference -- not just one person," said Veseling, who was honored by the city this week for what was perhaps the ultimate act of neighborliness.

A veteran St. Charles firefighter, Veseling was watching football and doing some home office work the afternoon of Nov. 4 when he heard an emergency call coming from his police and fire scanner.

He quickly realized crews were being dispatched to a house not too far from his own, on the 1900 block of Pleasant Avenue. He began listening more closely and started putting on shoes.

"I realized they were going to a house across the street and a couple doors down," Veseling recalled. "So I picked up the pace and started running over there."

As it turned out, a 56-year-old neighbor with whom Veseling was acquainted had suffered a cardiac arrest and wasn't responsive or breathing. Veseling was first on the scene and immediately began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

A few moments later, six colleagues who were packing a defibrillator arrived.

The team had the man stable and breathing in a matter of minutes, though he remained unconscious.

The man recovered after several days in the hospital. He visited Veseling right away to thank him in person and offer a gourmet fruit basket as a gift of appreciation.

Veseling said he was just doing what anyone else would have done, and that he didn't act alone. His chief, Patrick Mullen, said he committed a "selfless act" that should be a "credit to those of us who work for the city and fire department."

"You make us all very proud," said St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte at a ceremony this week.

Veseling, a captain, joined the St. Charles Fire Department 21 years ago.

He asked that the colleagues who assisted him be recognized.

They were: Lt. Jim Kurczek, Joe Davila, Andrew Fillipp, Michelle Andrew and Travis Myers of the fire department, and St. Charles police officer Erik Mayan.