Mount Saint Mary College alumna Summer Lown ’24, an EMT with Town of Newburgh Emergency medical Services, and Fr. Gregoire Fluet, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, visit with each other in Fr. Fluet’s office a few weeks after a medical emergency that could have taken the Campus Chaplain’s life.
It was a warm July evening when Fr. Gregoire Fluet, Vice President for Mission and Ministry and Campus Chaplain at Mount Saint Mary College, was struck by a terrifying sense of déjà vu.
It was pretty late – about 11 o’clock in the evening, Fr. Fluet recalled. He was in his room in Sakac Hall on campus.
There had been a few signs in the previous weeks: a little shoulder and back pain, and a little tightness in his chest. With his 70th birthday on the horizon, he figured that it was just what happens as we age. It was nothing that seemed too out of the ordinary, right?
That is, until that night in July. That night the pain became too much. It was the same kind of pain that had afflicted his father 45 years earlier, soon before a heart attack would strike. It’s how Fr. Fluet lost his Dad.
That’s when Fr. Fluet knew he was in serious trouble.
But when he reached for his phone, the first person he thought to contact was not a doctor, but an alumna of the college, Summer Lown ’24. Lown is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) currently working for the Town of Newburgh Emergency Medical Services.
As a student, Lown had maintained a normal course load while working as a full-time EMT. It was heartbreak that sparked her love of the work: Two of her brothers passed away from cancer, with her youngest brother losing his battle against the disease during Lown’s sophomore year at the Mount.
But it was also heartbreak that brought Fr. Greg into her life. Her youngest brother had just been diagnosed when Lown was 17, and it was during that difficult time she first met Fr. Fluet at an admissions event at the Mount. Lown said she felt a “pull” towards Fr. Fluet’s booth, where he had rosaries laid out.
“I said to my parents, ‘I need to meet him,’” Lown said. “’I don't know what’s up, but I need to go and meet him.’”
After Lown revealed her family’s situation, Fr. Fluet blessed a rosary for her, which she keeps in her car to this day.
She knew, then and there, that her college search was over. “The moment I walked out of that atrium, I looked at my parents and I said, ‘I’m coming here,’” Lown explained. “I said, ‘This is the only school that I will apply to.’”
On that night in July, as Lown read the text from her dear friend, she was already getting dressed before she even replied.
“She said to me, ‘If you're texting me at this hour, something’s got to be wrong,” Fr. Fluet explained. “And I said, ‘It is.’”
That’s all it took to get Lown on her way to the Mount. The college’s security guards were already in Fr. Fluet’s room when Lown arrived, only about ten minutes later.
“I walked in the apartment and he was sitting on his recliner,” Lown said. “I only saw the back of him when I walked in, but even from behind, I could see his color was off.”
She gently chided the priest for not calling 911 first, before enacting her plan. From her experience as an EMT, Lown knew that it would be faster if the Mount’s security drove Fr. Fluet to Newburgh’s Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital instead of calling an ambulance. The hospital was only about four minutes away by car, ensuring he would get treatment as quickly as possible.
Once at the hospital, Lown grabbed a wheelchair and brought Fr. Fluet in. The hospital staff attended to the priest almost immediately. Although Lown knew he was in good hands, her dedication didn’t end there.
“What’s extraordinary about her being the person she is – because she is an extraordinary person – she stayed with me,” Fr. Fluet said. “She stayed until four o’clock in the morning.”
Lown kept Fr. Fluet in good spirits as they waited for test results. She left only when the staff suggested that Fr. Fluet should get some rest.
“I would have stayed even if I had to work the next day,” said Lown. “I’d have left for work from the hospital. Anything for Father Greg, I would do it.”
Like his father and grandfather before him, Fr. Fluet was diagnosed with having had a heart attack. But thanks to Lown and Mount security acting so quickly, the impact of his cardiac emergency was greatly reduced. Only five days later, Fr. Fluet was discharged from the hospital and was able to resume his duties at the college shortly after.
Lown, as Fr. Fluet points out, is a kind and dedicated friend. But she’s not alone in her compassion: The experience is indicative of the exceptional community at the Mount.
“The fact is, we have so many incredible students who graduate or are here right now,” explained Fr. Fluet. “That is something that is quite amazing about Mount Saint Mary College, quite amazing.”
That support extended beyond his emergency, Fr. Fluet noted. The Dominican Sisters, Mount staff and faculty, and students offered their support as he recovered, bringing him groceries, setting up follow-up doctor’s appointments, and cooking him meals.
While he was still in the hospital, he was taken care of by several Mount-trained nurses, who brightened his day every chance they got. In addition, Daniel Maughan, president and CEO of Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital and a Mount alumnus, checked in on him via text nearly every day Fr. Fluet was there.
Put simply, “The care that I got at St. Luke’s was extraordinary,” Fr. Fluet said.
When he was back at the Mount after his hospital stay, it felt “like coming home.”
“I have minimal family, but my goodness, I have a huge family here,” said Fr. Fluet. “When we say the Mount is a family, we’re not joking. This is real.”