‘People in the right place’: Quick actions save life of man who had heart attack on treadmill

Published 1:00 pm Monday, July 15, 2019

Thomas Morrison said it was “the scariest situation I have been in.”

Kyle Owen admitted he was “freaking out.”

Gary Lewis is happy both were there and he has the opportunity to continue living after he suffered a heart attack while on a treadmill at Bradley Wellness Center.

“God is not done with me, I believe that,” Lewis said.

Morrison and Owen are personal trainers at Bradley Wellness Center, and they said the morning of March 18 seemed routine. Local dentist Kudzai Chikwava was there working out, and Lewis and his wife, Donna, were going through their usual workout together on the treadmills. Suddenly, Lewis fell face first onto his treadmill.

Thompson and Owen ran to him and found his face bloodied.

“The lady beside him said he just kind of groaned and grabbed his chest and fell and face-planted on the treadmill,” Morrison said. “That was the greater concern to me at first because he hit his face, and I thought he had a seizure. We ran to the guy who fell off and we lifted his feet trying to prevent shock. I ran to the desk and told them to call 911. We were just watching him trying to see how he was doing when he started to lose his color and that is when the idea of a seizure went out the window and we knew we had a situation here.”

Lewis, 51, said he remembers little of that day and does not recall the fall. He knows he had been running on the treadmill for a while.

“He is a regular member and he can run 10 miles at the drop of a hat,” Morrison said of Lewis. “He had already been running for a half an hour and he was wet in sweat. (Kyle and I) were just sitting there at the fitness desk talking to each other at the beginning of the shift and he went down.”

Lewis said the next thing he remembered was waking up in the hospital and wondering how he got there.

“I don’t remember any of it,” Lewis said. “I just thank God that I was in the right place. I believe he had these people in the right place as well.”

Lewis had suffered a heart attack, and it was later determined he had a 100% blockage of his left anterior descending artery, also known as the “Widowmaker.” Bradley Wellness Center has automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and after ruling out a seizure, Morrison and Owen went to work.

“I was freaking out,” Owen said. “I didn’t know what to do. (Morrison) handed me the AED, and I just hooked it up and hoped for the best. It was the scariest moment of my life by far.”

Morrison said the AED has a self-diagnostic tool to guide responders.

“The AED starts talking to you and tells you what is going on, and said, ‘Shock advised,’ and we just looked at each other and said this guy has had a heart attack,” Morrison said. “He punched the button and gave the shock and then we just started doing CPR.”

According to the American Heart Association, a person who goes into cardiac arrest has a 13% chance of survival. If your heart stops functioning in a hospital or around medically-trained personnel, your chances of survival increase to one-in-four. Lewis knows he happened to be in the right place with the right people around him.

Chikwava started assisting, using a breathing mask resuscitator to help Lewis’ breathing. Lewis’ wife was there beside them the entire time.

“It was the scariest situation I have been in,” Morrison said. “But they got him to surgery and 10 days later he was in the facility giving us a hug and thanking us. He and his wife are back to jogging and it is wonderful to have helped.”

The quick actions of the three who came to Lewis’ aid were recently recognized by the Dalton Fire Department. Morrison and Owen received Citizen LifeSaving Awards at a recent meeting of the Dalton Public Safety Commission, while Chikwava was also recognized with the award.

Lewis said he isn’t taking his second chance for granted. He’s back to working out — not as intensely as he was before — and has a better appreciation for the special moments like when his daughter graduated from high school in May. And he said it is thanks to Chikwava, Morrison and Owen that he is able to enjoy those moments.

“I hugged their necks and couldn’t thank them enough,” Lewis said. “They all went out of their way to help me, and I can’t ever thank them enough. I’ll be forever grateful for them being there to help me. God wants me to be here a little longer, and I can’t wait to see his plan.”