Roy Fabio, left, and Doug Burkett at Robert Greer’s station. Photo by Bill Bartkus

Teammates save life of one of their
By Bill Bartkus
NAVAIR Depot North Island

CORONADO, Calif. - Robert Greer Jr., is alive today thanks to two Naval Air Depot North Island teammates who thought enough of him to go to his house in Spring Valley and check up on him when he didn’t come to work one Monday morning.

Doug Burkett and Roy Fabio, Greer’s teammates in Code 6.2.3.2, both noticed that Greer was acting strangely for about 10 days. “He told us that his doctor had him on high blood pressure medication which was causing him to appear out of the norm,” said Fabio. But then one Saturday on the job, both men noticed that Greer was disoriented. “By looking at him, we could tell that something wasn’t right. He looked tired and confused and didn’t know what day it was,” said Burkett. “But he remained on the job until early afternoon and told me that he had to leave.”

Burkett was unsure about Greer’s condition, and he told him that he was going to follow him. “I followed him to the I-5 and figured that he was OK since he had no trouble driving,” said Burkett. “I called him about 7:30 that Saturday night, and he told me that he ate a little and felt much better.”

Burkett was still very concerned about Greer’s condition so he called him several times on Sunday but Greer didn’t answer the phone. Burkett surmised that he took his and Fabio’s advice and went to the hospital to get a checkup.

That Monday, Greer did not report for work and he didn’t call in sick. “I was worried so I called him and didn’t get an answer. I called every hour on the hour, and I still didn’t get an answer,” said a concerned and now worried Burkett.

Fabio and Burkett, both radar technicians, started to experience the same feeling and decided to go to Greer’s house. It was now noon. “When we got to his house, his car was there and we started checking around the house and banging on doors and windows,” Fabio said. “We could hear a radio or TV on inside the house.” They kept knocking on the door, and Greer, who lives alone, didn’t answer.
A neighbor happened to be walking by and the two men asked her if they had seen any activity at Greer’s house such as an ambulance. The neighbor, whose husband is a deputy sheriff, hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary nor had she seen Greer.

Burkett and Fabio asked her to call 9-1-1.

The fire department responded immediately and broke into the house through a bathroom window while Burkett, Fabio and the neighbor waited outside. “When they brought him outside he was in really bad shape, and they started administering CPR. They took him to Grossmont Hospital,” said Fabio.

Greer’s teammates followed the emergency vehicle and remained with Greer until they knew that he was somewhat stable. “He was in a coma at the time,” Burkett said. The men have no idea how long Greer was unconscious from the time Burkett spoke to him on Saturday night to early Monday afternoon.

According to Burkett, Greer remained in a coma for approximately four days. “He was in the medical intensive care unit for four days until he finally started to respond,” Burkett said.

“We scrambled to find some family members. The neighbor called his two sisters in Texas,” Fabio said, “and they stayed with him at the hospital.”

Greer, 54, was hospitalized for six weeks. “He went from medical ICU to urgent care (where doctors performed emergency surgery), to surgical ICU, to recovery and rehabilitation. “Now he is rehabilitating at home, and his sisters are staying with him because he can’t do everything on his own,” Burkett said.
A rehab nurse visits him three times a week.

Burkett said that in addition to Greer’s high blood pressure, doctors discovered that he is a borderline diabetic “and he didn’t know he was a diabetic,” Fabio said.

Both men agree that if you see someone who appears to be acting outside the norm and looks ill don’t hesitate to offer help. “If someone doesn’t show up for work or call in sick, call the person first. If you don’t get an answer, go to their house as soon as possible to check and see if anything is wrong. Every minute counts,” they said.