'In the Arms of Angels'

High above the valley floor, alone on the edge of a wooded slope, Steve Stahl fell unconscious into the snow. His body temperature began to plummet. 

Nearby, Mike Jolly, RN, was enjoying a day of skiing at Stowe Mountain Resort with his long-time friend, Jared Supple. The two had first crossed paths while working Mt. Mansfield ski patrol years earlier. Both experienced emergency medicine clinicians, Jolly and Supple noticed a pair of skis planted into the snow on the opposite side of the trail. A motionless figure lay nearby.  

The two friends found Stahl unresponsive and barely breathing. As they worked to clear his airway, Stahl’s heart gave out — cardiac arrest —a dire condition with a survival rate of less than 10% outside a hospital setting. Jolly and Supple immediately began CPR and called their on-duty ski patrol colleagues stationed at the mountain’s peak. 

“We knew we’d need every resource we could muster to bring him back and off the mountain,” says Jolly, an emergency medicine nurse at University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center. “And we knew we’d need a lot of things to go just right — along with a bit of luck— to get him out of that situation alive.”  

Fortunately for Stahl, a well-prepared health system was in place, from the ski patrol and good Samaritans on the slope to the fire and rescue teams and critical care crews on the ground and in the air, to the cardiologists, intensive care nurses, physicians and countless other caring hands that would go above and beyond to save his life.  

Not Your Average Ski Getaway 

Stahl had been looking forward to visiting from Connecticut for his father-son getaway at Stowe Mountain Resort for months. He and his 18-year-old son, Liam, along with two close friends, got five great runs in before Stahl decided to briefly peel off on his own. They agreed to meet where the trails converged a few hundred yards downhill.  

“I was feeling good that day, though in hindsight my chest felt tight,” recalls Stahl, a 50-year-old retired law enforcement officer. “But on that run, I started to feel really off. I unclipped from my skis because I knew I needed help. The last thing I remember was seeing two guys further up the trail. Then I blacked out.” 

Jolly estimates that it took no more than two minutes for his ski patrol colleagues to arrive from the summit station. They brought a defibrillator (AED) along with other vital equipment to resuscitate Stahl and safely transport him down the mountain.

Mike Jolly, emergency medicine nurse at Central Vermont Medical Center and part-time Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol

“As a licensed EMT provider, we’re trained and equipped to provide advanced cardiac lifesaving care slope-side,” says Karen Wagner, director of Mt. Mansfield ski patrol. “Many of our members are experienced EMTs – or like Jolly, seasoned emergency medicine clinicians.” 

Further down the mountain, Liam grew anxious. When he asked a passing skier about his dad, identifying him by his red helmet, he learned of the grave situation unfolding uphill. He took off his skis and ran up the slope.  

“I couldn’t believe what was happening,” says Liam, who watched in agony as Jolly, Supple and the ski patrollers fought to resuscitate his dad. “I had my mom on the phone the whole time, and I just kept yelling at my dad to keep fighting.” 

As Liam looked on, the first responders delivered a shock to Steve’s heart with the AED, but couldn’t find a pulse, partly due to the freezing temperatures. They gave him a jolt of cardiac epinephrine via IV and continued chest compressions while loading him into the toboggan. Before setting out, they attached an auto pulse device to Steve’s chest to maintain chest compressions during the descent. 

Reducing the Time to Definitive Care

Forty miles away at Burlington International Airport, a radio crackled to life, alerting UVM Health Network’s critical care flight crew to the unfolding crisis on Mt. Mansfield. Initially on standby, the helicopter crew decided to take off, heading for the mountains.

Jeff Patterson, senior flight paramedic with UVM Health Network Critical Care Transport

“Better to be in the air and then told we’re not needed, than being needed and unable to fly because we missed our weather window,” says Jeff Patterson, senior flight paramedic with UVM Health Network. 

The flight crew, comprising Patterson, flight nurse Jason Hull, and pilot Tom Streit had thousands of hours of experience responding to medical emergencies. Their instinct for decisive action proved correct. In life-threatening situations like cardiac arrest, every minute counts, impacting survival and the extent of damage to vital organs.

Jason Hull, flight nurse with UVM Health Network Critical Care Transport

“Shrinking the time to definitive care – care that addresses the root cause of the problem – that’s the ultimate goal,” says Patterson. “Rapid critical care transportation can help make that happen, especially in remote areas.”

Twenty minutes after takeoff, Streit landed the helicopter in the busy parking lot of Stowe Mountain Resort. Patterson and Hull joined Stowe Fire & Rescue and ski patrol to stabilize Steve for the flight back to Burlington. He remained unconscious and in critical condition, his heart struggling to maintain a healthy rhythm. After intubating Steve and placing him on a ventilator, the crew carefully loaded him into the helicopter and lifted off for UVM Medical Center.

Critical Care Transport pilot Tom Streit of UVM Health Network.

The emotional toll on Liam was immense. Watching the scene unfold, his emotions came pouring out. Stowe police officer Nick Chegwidden stepped forward offering Liam a long, comforting hug. 

“I really needed that hug,” Liam recalls. “It meant so much to me.”

Averting a Widowmaker

Upon arrival at UVM Medical Center, Steve was quickly taken to the catheter lab, where Jan Denkmann, MD, and his team pinpointed the cause of his heart failure: a near complete blockage of his left anterior descending artery, often called “a widowmaker.”

“Steve was a healthy guy, but sometimes plaque can develop in the artery over a long period of time,” says Dr. Denkmann, an interventional cardiologist. “When the plaque ruptures and opens to the bloodstream, it can cause a clot. In Steve’s case, it happened in an extraordinarily dangerous part of his heart.” 

To address the issue, Dr. Denkmann and his team performed cardiac catheterization, a minimally invasive procedure to remove the blood clot and place a stent to restore blood flow. Despite the stent, his heart remained in cardiogenic shock, unable to pump sufficient blood. To support his heart, Dr. Denkmann also inserted a balloon heart pump to enhance blood flow.

“His heart was still having trouble recovering and it was unclear if it could sustain itself,” says Dr. Denkmann, who moved Steve to the medical intensive care unit. “The next 48 hours were going to be critical.”

Preparing for the Worst

Alison Stahl, Steve’s wife, arrived from Connecticut shortly after Steve was moved to the cardiac ICU, where his heart was still struggling. There she met Liam and Katelin Morrissette, MD, the cardiac intensive care physician overseeing Steve’s care.

“It was an incredibly precarious time for him, and it was miraculous that he’d made it that far,” says Dr. Morrissette. “The first responders were just incredible – they made a heroic effort to get him down the mountain and stabilized – but his heart had experienced so much trauma. It wasn’t clear if it could recover.” 

Katelin Morrissette, critical care medicine physician at UVM Medical Center

Steve’s condition deteriorated. His heart faltered several times, requiring chest compressions to keep him alive. Dr. Morrisette told Alison to prepare for the worst.

But Steve and his care team weren’t ready to give up. Dr. Morrisette and Dr. Denkmann agreed that Steve’s heart would need more support, and fast. About two in the morning, they took him back to the catheter lab, where Dr. Denkmann’s team installed a second heart pump, known as an Impella. This device temporarily took over the heart’s pumping function, allowing it to rest and recover while maintaining blood flow.

Back in the ICU, Alison and Liam faced an anxious wait, one shared by Liam’s sister, Emma, who had remained in Connecticut at the family’s home. 

“They had done everything they could, and we just needed to wait and see whether the second heart pump would be enough,” says Alison, who spent nearly all of the next two days in the cardiac ICU by Steve’s side. “That was an emotional time, and I will never forget the care and compassion his nurses and doctors showed for Steve and for all of us. Nurses like Emily, Lorna and Amy - even though he was unconscious, they spoke to him like he was there and awake – it gave us hope.” 

Slowly, Steve improved. After two days, his heart had recovered enough for his clinicians to remove the heart pumps, take him off the ventilator and reduce his sedation. Early one morning, he slowly opened his eyes to see Liam’s teary face looking back at him. 

“Seeing Liam’s face – and then Alison’s – was the best feeling in the world,” reflects Steve from their home in Connecticut. “What happened to me is still such a shock, and I’m so grateful to have such a warm, loving family and all those care givers who kept me going.” 

A Steady Recovery 

Steve’s condition continued to improve over time. After a few more days, he was well enough to leave the ICU for a dedicated cardiology unit, where he gradually regained his strength and processed the events from his collapse at Stowe to waking up in the ICU.

“That transition can be a difficult time for people like Steve who have survived a near-death experience” says Kramer Wahlberg, MD, the cardiologist who oversaw Steve’s recovery. “Much of my time was spent helping him catch up and process what he’d experienced. His physical recovery was incredible – not many people go through what he did and live to see their loved ones again, and those who do often have lasting health problems.”

By the time Steve walked out of the hospital – 10 days after his arrival by helicopter – his heart function was within the range of a completely healthy person. Now, two months on from his cardiac arrest, he is back to many of the activities he loves: working in his woodshop, crafting pens from unique pieces of wood, building a fishing table with Liam, going for walks with Alison, feeding the family’s chickens in the backyard with Emma and, more recently, attending cardiac rehabilitation. He plans to return to work soon at the modest home improvement company he started after retiring from the Connecticut State Department of Corrections. 

Steve Stahl and Mike Jolly, reunited at Stowe Mountain Resort in April 2025

Reflecting on Steve’s miraculous recovery, Patterson, the senior flight paramedic, attributes the outcome to three key factors: “That day, you had great clinical decision making, incredible communication and a little bit of luck – it’s a case study in how multiple health care organizations should work together in an emergency.”

Alison Stahl, relishing Steve’s returning health, sees it somewhat differently. “We will never be able to sufficiently thank the people who cared for Steve,” she says. “From start to finish, he was in the arms of angels…he was in the caring hands of the elite.”