Toms River EMT Helps Others. Now She's Fighting To Live

TOMS RIVER, NJ — From a young age, Megan Franzoso has been immersed in serving the community as an emergency medical technician, so much so that it was only natural for her to join the Silverton EMS squad when she was 16 years old.

Now 28, the Toms River resident has spent hundreds of hours caring for people in emergency situations, from car accidents to sudden medical events.

Last Friday, Franzoso became the one receiving the care, when her heart stopped for 45 minutes following a cardiac episode. The Toms River native is hospitalized at Temple University Medical Center in Philadelphia in a medically induced coma as specialists try to figure out what made her heart stop and help her heal.

While she fights to live, family and friends are trying to raise funds to cover her quickly mounting medical expenses.

"Megan was destined to help her community," wrote Brian Geoghegan, Megan's uncle, on a GoFundme campaign set up by the family. Her grandfather, Joseph Geoghegan, was a founding member of the Silverton EMS. Her grandmother, Jane Geoghegan, remains an active part of the squad, "occasionally even riding an ambulance when the need arises," Brian said by email Wednesday. Her mother, Deb Franzoso, is an active member of the Silverton squad, as is Brian. His brother Kevin Geoghegan, who recently served on the Toms River Township Council, is the administrator of Silverton EMS.

"Megan literally grew up around Silverton ambulances," Brian said, pointing out the photo the GoFundme campaign. She grew up around public safety service as well; Deb Franzoso also is retired from her paid position in Toms River as a community service officer — the title for a paid EMT. Megan's father, Michael Franzoso, is retired captain from the Ocean County Corrections Department. Megan also has a younger sister, Michele.

When Megan isn't working in Silverton, she's either in Berkeley Township, where she works full-time as a paid EMT, or she's at Tri-Boro EMS, where she works part-time covering the barrier island.

"We have learned that Berkeley Township does not provide temporary disability benefits to their employees," Brian Geoghegan said by email. "So, once any accrued leave time runs out, she will not have any income beyond any temporary disability payments from her part-time employment. This was the primary reason the GoFundme page was started, to support her existing bills as well as potential medical bills."

The GoFundme serves an additional purpose, Brian said, as it allows the family to keep concerned friends updated on her progress.

"With Megan and her family having been in public safety for so long, our 'extended family' of police, fire and EMS spans the entire state," he said. "It has been difficult to try and keep everyone updated, as I am sure you can imagine. It is an emotional conversation to have ... then to repeat it multiple times is nearly impossible."

On Wednesday, a planned MRI had to be postponed while doctors treat an infection in her lungs. On Tuesday, they said she was responding to pain stimuli and her pupils were responding to light.

"The family is overwhelmed by everyone's thoughts and prayers," Brian said.

Geoghegan said she suffered a cardiac event and went into cardiac arrest for 45 minutes while she was at Community Medical Center in Toms River. Once her heart rhythm was restored, she was flown to Temple University Medical Center, where she remains in critical condition on life support.

"EMS is a calling and not a profession known to be well-paid," he said, and the medical expenses are mounting quickly, including a $20,000 medevac flight from Community Medical Center to Temple.

"The cardiologists and neurologists are still working together, trying to determine what the cause of her condition is. At this point, we have no idea how long of a recovery period will be, but we do know that she has a long road ahead of her," he wrote.

"Naturally we are hoping for a full recovery, but at this point we’d be happy with her improving from this grave condition," he wrote.

To contribute to the GoFundme, click here. You also can send Geoghegan a private message through the page to send funds directly to the family.

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Megan Franzoso as an adult and as a child with Silverton EMS ambulances. Photo via GoFundme, a Patch partner