A Toast to Love, Long Life and Rescue Breaths

Just minutes after toasting his son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law, man is saved by quality CPR administered by wedding rehearsal guests.

Jack O’Donnell had just finished his rehearsal dinner toast when his world went dark as his pulse stopped. His two sons – both police officers trained in CPR – immediately began chest compressions and rescue breaths.

Jack’s son Kyle was to be married the next day at Our Lady of Peace church on Shaker Square. Now he was kneeling on the floor in a Little Italy restaurant, delivering rescue breaths while his younger brother, Connor, performed chest compressions.

Other healthcare workers in the crowd jumped in to assist while numerous guests called 9-1-1. The bride-to-be ran outside to flag down the paramedics while other guests ran in search of an AED.

The 72-year-old Fairport Harbor man went into a lethal ventricular fibrillation (VFib) heart rhythm in the ambulance and was still not breathing on his own when Cleveland EMS brought him to University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center that night. But every single doctor and nurse the family encountered emphasized that without quality CPR and those rescue breaths, Jack would never have had a chance.

“They did compressions on him for what seemed like forever,” said Jack’s wife, Denise. “The doctors and nurses said my sons saved his life by keeping compressions going and keeping oxygen to his brain. Jack had no pulse for 12 minutes. They even shocked him in the ambulance on the way, and he still had no pulse when he arrived in the ER.”

Jack’s family, including his future daughter-in-law, Allie, waited until 4 a.m., when they could visit him in the Edna & Thomas F. Zenty Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). He was intubated and sedated, but most importantly, he was alive.

A Night of Decisions, A Day of Celebration

Devastated and drained physically and emotionally, the couple debated whether to proceed with the wedding. Kyle’s mother wanted them to carry on with their plans, but they were worried about his father. They realized they were lucky Jack’s cardiac arrest occurred during the wedding festivities, when he was surrounded by people who knew what to do.

The bride and groom decided to postpone the reception but hold the wedding. They texted guests in the early morning hours, urging them to meet them at the church to surround and comfort them with love. Kyle and Allie were married by the same priest who had officiated Allie’s parents’ ceremony 35 years earlier.

Their wedding was live-streamed to Jack’s CICU room. Denise saw a single tear roll down her husband’s cheek during the ceremony.

After the wedding, the couple stopped by the CICU. Nurse Kelley Brumfield, BSN, RN, asked Allie for the name of her wedding song, and played “The Way I Love You” by Michal Leah when the couple walked into Jack’s room in their wedding finery. Nurse Hannah Hapanowicz, BSN, RN, arranged a card for the couple, which was much appreciated by the family.

“The nursing staff was amazing and made us feel excited about just being married,” Allie said. “They knew how worried we were about him, but they also really did their best to make us feel this is something we should celebrate.”

Nothing but Kindness

After several days in CICU, Jack was transferred to Lerner Tower 7. He spent two weeks in the hospital before being discharged home. He has an extensive cardiac history. University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute doctors did a cardiac catheterization to determine the cause of his arrest and placed a stent to open an occluded right coronary artery. They also implanted a pacemaker and defibrillator in his chest due to his cardiac arrest, which will monitor his heart rate and deliver a shock if necessary.

CICU night-shift nurse Declan Boldy, BSN, RN, was working that first night when Jack arrived. He continued to visit him on LT7 and offer support to the family.

The care they extend to each other and patients’ families is indicative of a strong, healthy culture in the unit, Declan said.

“We support each other even when we’re not in direct care of the patient,” Declan said. “A lot of credit needs to be given to his sons for effective CPR. They were the reason he even got to us in the first place. Ten minutes is a long time to be down. I told the family it’s nothing short of a miracle that he has no neuro deficits.”

In a letter to the unit, Jack wrote: “From the first moment after I became conscious and was able to understand my circumstances, I was treated with nothing but kindness. I was constantly asked by all of my caregivers if I needed or wanted anything. They went far beyond anything I would have imagined as being reasonable of caregivers in a busy environment."

A month after his cardiac arrest, Jack sounds strong and is doing well. He looks forward to golfing soon in Florida.

Kyle, who has been a police officer in Cleveland and Cleveland Heights for the past eight years, is appreciative of his training. He knows a lot has changed since his dad became an officer in 1977, when EMS was newer and police were not expected to perform CPR at a scene if they arrived first.

In the weeks since his wedding, Kyle finds himself driving a little faster to a scene, never knowing what lies ahead. He was grateful his dad’s medical crisis brought him to University Hospitals.

“I’m really appreciative of UH, their support medically and emotionally,” Kyle said. “They did an amazing job.”