Sometimes, the stars have to align just perfectly for everything to work out.
For an Ira man, they did just that while he was out to eat with his girlfriend at Cool Basil in Altoona on Dec. 9, when he went into cardiac arrest.
Just a few months after his 50th birthday, Tim Wright experienced a disruption of his normal heart rhythm, a symptom of a rare genetic disorder called Brugada syndrome, leaving him in cardiac arrest and his girlfriend, Jayda Hollander, 49, calling out for help.
“I tried to kind of shake him on the shoulder, and he didn’t respond,” Hollander said. “Then, when I kind of grabbed his head, it kind of fell over to the side and his eyes were really, really dilated and he was kind of just starting off to the side.”
Luckily for Wright and Hollander, two UnityPoint Health employees who work at the Iowa Methodist Medical Center were in the right place at the right time.
Wendy Rockey, and nurse and the executive director of cardiovascular services at UnityPoint, was sitting in the booth next to Wright and Hollander and offered her help when Jayda yelled out, “Can somebody please help me?”
After assessing Wright, making sure he wasn’t choking, Rockey started performing CPR.
Nurse Amber Burke, a coordinator with Blank Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, had been about to leave when she heard the commotion on the other side of the restaurant. She helped Rockey with compressions until more help arrived.
“When you’re in the middle of it (CPR), you don’t really notice anything else going on,” Burke said. “My focus was on making sure that I was doing what I was trained to do and doing my best to give the compressions that way I needed to.”
Five minutes later, after multiple rounds of CPR, paramedics arrived with an automated external defibrillator.
“He had a heart rhythm before he left the restaurant,” Rockey said.
Wright was transported to the Methodist ER, where he was treated before being moved to the cardiovascular unit.
In an interview from his hospital room at Methodist, Wright told the Register the first thing he remembers after going into cardiac arrest was waking up in the ICU, intubated with a tube down his throat.
“I knew I was in an ICU, but I didn’t know where I was,” Wright said. “I was intubated … trying to figure out how do I coexist with this thing? Do I breathe? Is this thing breathing for me, or are we breathing together?”
He remembers going in and out of consciousness after being admitted, and distinctly remembers a nurse saying: “You’re here with me. Stay here. Stay with me. Stay.”
After going in and out of consciousness, Wright stayed.
Over the next week, he began his recovery, fighting to understand what his new normal would look like with a medical device called an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD.
“I hope that a lot of it can stay the same,” Wright said. “With the diagnosis and now a defibrillator, I hope that it fits into my life, or else we’ll have to make it.”
Meeting the nurses who saved his life
Before that night in the restaurant, Rockey and Burke had never met each other.
They both work at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in different units of the hospital, but had never crossed paths until they performed CPR on Wright that Saturday night.
On Wednesday, Rockey had the opportunity to meet Wright, who had been, despite all odds, placed in one of her units.
“I walked in and said, ‘I’m Wendy. I’m one of the managers here,’ and then I said, ‘I’m also the nurse that was in the restaurant.'”
Burke didn’t get the same opportunity. She had to leave the restaurant before she knew that Wright was stable and had a heartbeat.
“I had no closure,” Burke said. “I didn’t know if they were able to get a pulse later. I didn’t know what hospital he was transported to. I didn’t know if he survived the event … I didn’t know if what I had done was helpful, because, at the time, he still did not have a pulse.”
After Burke had left the restaurant, she went off on a preplanned trip, but Wright was still in the back of her mind until she got back to work Friday, nearly a week after the event.
“I really left the state, so being able to come back and see him up and walking and meet his family was amazing,” Burke said.
On Friday, Burke’s day back, the four of them, Wright, Hollander, Rockey and Burke, reunited for the first time all together.
“The stars just aligned to be able to have that opportunity,” Burke said. “I really didn’t think I was going to meet him or even know the outcome and know if he survived.”
Wright was expected to be released Saturday, a week after his cardiac event.
What is Brugada syndrome?
Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a rare and potentially life-threatening cardiovascular condition that increases the risk of irregular heart rhythms that begin in the lower chamber of the heart.
Oftentimes, BrS goes undiagnosed until it’s too late. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the “most serious complication of Brugada syndrome is sudden death. This often occurs while the person is sleeping,” giving no chance of diagnosis so treatment can be offered.
These are the symptoms of BrS:
- Palpitations
- Fainting
- Seizures
- Sudden death
“Many cases of Brugada syndrome are related to a genetic mutation,” Johns Hopkins Medicine says. “Identifying the condition is key to preventing its potential complications. If you have Brugada syndrome, you should discuss the risk implications for your relatives and children with a genetic counselor.”
As for Wright, he recalls feeling warm and dizzy before he went into cardiac arrest.
“We’re waiting for the check, and all of a sudden, I start feeling warm and then dizzy,” Wright said. “I just need to sit here for a second and let this pass. I’m not sure what’s going on. I’ve never really ever had this happen before.”
From there, he went into cardiac arrest.
CPR saved Wright’s life
According to Wright and the nurses, CPR was the main thing that saved his life.
But it could have resulted in a not-so-happy ending.
“It felt as if we (Rockey and Burke) were the only two people in the restaurant that knew CPR,” Rockey said. “Even if you don’t know what’s going on, if someone is down, CPR is the best thing to do. There’s not harm in starting CPR.”
Burke remembers her CPR training for work, but there’s not always going to be a nurse there to save the day.
“It’s easy to look at the situation and go, ‘Oh, fantastic! There were nurses there that knew CPR!’ But, if we weren’t there, there was no one else in the restaurant offering the same type of assistance,” Burke said.
Rockey and Burke ask that everyone consider taking CPR classes.
“What if you’re in an area that doesn’t have medical personnel?” Burke said. “You don’t have to be a nurse to do what we did. You just need to have that skill set.”
You can find CPR classes near you by going to Redcross.org.
Kyle Werner is a reporter for the Register. Reach him at [email protected].
Rachel Carter is a health and wellness expert dedicated to helping readers lead healthier lives. With a background in nutrition, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being.
