DETROIT – An emotional reunion occurred for a Troy man and his family at DMC Heart Hospital in Detroit.
David Gallagher collapsed while running the annual Belle Isle New Year’s Eve run. Fortunately, the woman running behind him was a nurse.
Gallagher is a 66-year-old man who has been running in the race for over 15 years.
He said the last thing he remembered about the 54th annual event was talking with his running buddies and Jeanne Bocci, the woman who began the run with her friends in 1970.
“That’s the last thing I remember, nothing else, just before the race,” said Gallagher, who typically runs on his lunch hour three or four times a week from his medical billing office in Warren and has run the Belle Isle New Year’s Eve 5K every year since 2008. “She said, ‘Good luck guys!’ And I remember waking up at the hospital in the ICU.”
About 2.5 miles into the 3.1-mile run/walk, Gallagher had a heart attack due to blockage in two of his coronary vessels.
The Troy native, whom other runners surrounded, fell face-first into the concrete, breaking his nose and lying on the pavement unconscious as his heart had stopped.
His guardian angel, Kate Lloyd, 26, of Dearborn Heights, was right behind him when he collapsed.
Lloyd, who is a nurse at the Michigan Department of Corrections, immediately began hands-on CPR, which doctors credit for saving the 66-year-old man’s life.
“I’m humbled by everyone’s help,” Gallagher said. “I say this to people all the time everybody was doing for me what I couldn’t do for myself, whether it was their job or not. I was helpless, and they saved my life. I feel very lucky, very fortunate. I feel very blessed.”
Lloyd said there was no question about jumping in to perform hands-only CPR as she’s done it several times in her job in the emergency center at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti.
“It’s scary, but I think we just need to remember we need to help each other out,” Lloyd said. “It doesn’t matter who they are: they are a father, grandfather, nephew, good friend to someone. It’s really important to do it; do it for the greater good. Do it for that person to get another chance.”
Gallagher was taken to Detroit EMS inside the emergency center at Detroit Medical Center’s Detroit Receiving Hospital.
The 66-year-old had a balloon pump to take over pumping for his heart. Then, DMC Heart Hospital performed a double-bypass surgery around the blockages.
“We are thankful to all of the people who worked together to keep David alive so we could perform the bypass,” said Dr. Kenton Zehr. “Oftentimes, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients never get the chance to survive. This is a perfect example of how starting CPR immediately can save a life.”
Gallagher returned to the DMC Heart Hospital on Thursday (Feb. 1) to meet Lloyd face-to-face for the first time after the race.
Detroit Belle Isle New Year’s Eve Run/Walk Race Director Stephen Moran presented Gallagher with his race medal.
“The Belle Isle New Year’s Eve Run has always been about community, and we were very blessed to have such an extraordinary group of people at last year’s event, from Kate Lloyd and the group of runners she was with to the Detroit EMS, the team at Detroit Medical Center’s Detroit Receiving Hospital and DMC Heart Hospital, Michigan DNR conservation officers, and the race staff located out on the course,” said Moran. “We cannot thank everyone enough for their quick actions in saving David’s life.”
Still healing from the incident, Gallagher said he intends to continue his post-surgery rehab and potentially run or walk the race in 2024.
“That was my most dramatic race finish ever,” Gallagher said, chuckling. “Dr. Zehr said I won’t have to give up running. I just have to curb it back a little. I think I’ll take up walking for a year or two, then see where I’m at.”