Recalling The Day One N.C. Man`s Training Saved Another
Feb. 07--It's been more than 17 months since a Mecklenburg County man's life was saved by a driver-education teacher and a paramedic, but time hasn't erased the emotion Tom McCann feels about the people who gave him a second chance to watch his five children grow.
His voice cracking and tears welling in his eyes Monday, McCann thanked in person the men he describes as "pure heroes."
"I was gone, and these guys brought me back," McCann said of John Potts and John Fisher, whose quick work saved McCann's life after he suffered a heart attack on the afternoon of Aug. 26, 2010.
"Because of them, I can grow old," said McCann, 47. "I can watch my kids grow and can spend the years with my wife."
Officials at Medic helped arrange the reunion, in observance of American Heart Month. Spokeswoman Kristin Young of Medic said McCann's story is a reminder to the public of the importance of learning CPR.
Tom McCann had driven to Providence High School that August afternoon to pick up his daughter, Erin, from her driver-education class. McCann, who operates an executive recruiting firm, had no history of heart problems. In fact, he was a fitness fanatic who had competed in triathlons and mini-triathlons.
Potts, who teaches driver education to Providence students and had learned CPR many years earlier while an assistant football coach at South Mecklenburg High, recalls greeting McCann and reaching to shake his hand.
"All of a sudden, he collapsed," Potts said. "From that point, it was just a matter of reacting ... of doing what I had been trained to do."
Potts began giving CPR to McCann, and bystanders called 911. Fisher, a paramedic for Medic, was on a break at the Barnes & Noble store a short distance down N.C. 51 at the Arboretum shopping center when he got the call.
"It was a pretty dramatic scene," Fisher said, recalling what he saw as he pulled his ambulance into the parking lot in front of Providence High. "I remember his (McCann's) daughter crying and thinking, 'This guy is young.' "
Fisher said Potts had done "everything right." He said the immediate CPR restored blood flow in McCann's body and gave Fisher and fellow paramedic Kevin Staley a boost when they arrived.
McCann, who remembers nothing of what happened that day, had gone into cardiac arrest. Fisher drove him to the hospital, where doctors began battling to save his life.
"Doctors told my family that I had a 30 percent chance of making it through the first night," McCann said. He said he was in a coma for three days. He learned later that most people who suffer the loss of oxygen and blood flow that he did suffer brain damage.
"But I'm here, and it's because of these guys," he said.
During Monday's reunion, Fisher reached inside his jacket and removed a Medic lifesaving button that he had earned. He handed it to Potts, saying, "You earned this."
Potts' voice choked up as he told Fisher, "This means a lot to me."
McCann said he "was in the right place at the right time." A week earlier, he had been in a rugged part of Pennsylvania, competing in an extreme running and cycling competition. "If this had happened to me then, I wouldn't be here now," he said.
"I still get emotional about all this," he said, a tear welling in his right eye. "I got a second chance."
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