Church receives lifesaving device at man’s memorial

Blessed Sacrament Church held a special dedication ceremony after Father’s Day Mass on June 19 to honor the late Henry Andresen, a Valley Stream man who died from a heart attack at the church last year, and to accept a defibrillator donated in his memory.

“He was a very generous individual,” said Father Peter Dugandzic. “He helped us with so many projects here.”

Andresen, 75, died in February 2015, which prompted a few churches in neighboring communities to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Defibrillators deliver an electrical current to the heart through the victim’s chest wall, which interrupts the chaotic rhythm and allows the heartbeat to return to normal. For each minute that defibrillation is delayed, the chance for survival is reduced by about 10 percent.

“If this can save one person’s life — if we had had this when he had his heart attack here, who knows?” Dugandzic said. “Everybody misses Hank. He was a very active parishioner.”

Family and friends of Andresen were moved by the turnout and outpouring of support from the community. “It was wonderful,” Kerry Borring, Andresen’s daughter said.

Boring said that Father’s Day is especially difficult for her. “I guess it makes us feel better to know that we’re possibly helping other people,” she said.

Twelve churches were chosen at random to receive AEDs after a hockey fundraiser in March raised $13,000 for the cause. Boring, a registered nurse for more than 20 years, said she’s planning to help coordinate training classes at each of the churches receiving the devices.

Gayle Andresen, Henry’s wife, said she believed the dedication went “very well,” and that Dugandzic did a “beautiful job.” The couple moved to the village 49 years ago, and she said it gave her some relief knowing that the church now had an AED.

“He was an exceptional man,” she said of her husband. “There was no one like him.”