Patrick Raycraft was planning to work on a freelance story in Ukraine last October and plenty of people who knew him were worried about his safety in the war-torn country.
But his life was threatened the week before he went; he never made it overseas. Raycraft, a photographer and part-time professor at UConn who lives in Hartford, had a massive heart attack on Oct. 5, 32 miles into a 42-mile cycling event in upstate New York.
That he survived, and was able to go back last month and complete the final 10 miles of the ride and thank first responders and doctors who helped him is a testament to the timely medical care he received and his overall good health prior to his cardiac event.
“For somebody to have a cardiac arrest in the field and make it out alive, there’s less than 10 percent chance that somebody like that makes it out alive with cognitive functions,” said Dr. Vijay Iyer, an interventional cardiologist and medical director of cardiovascular services at Kaleida Health in Buffalo, who treated Raycraft. “The system worked when a person was in need and worked effectively.
“I think it helped that he was a good athlete for his recovery. He had heart disease and despite everything he was doing, there’s still a small chance of bad things happening.”
Raycraft’s heart stopped while he was in the ambulance and a local doctor performed CPR on him as the ambulance raced toward a meeting point with another vehicle that was carrying an automated external defibrillator (AED). On the side of the road in upstate New York, he was shocked nine times before he responded and was stabilized. He was taken to a local hospital, then flown to Buffalo General Hospital, where Iyer and his team happened to be on call that day.
They implanted an Impella device, a heart pump which helped maintain Raycraft’s heart function while he recovered, and they also put in a stent to relieve an arterial blockage. He woke up in the ICU.
Read the full article: A CT man had a massive heart attack on a bike ride. Why he wants you to know.
