The following letter was received July 24, 2020. Although we aren’t sure which club in Iowa donated the AED that saved Greg’s life, he thanks the Iowa City Noon Rotary Club likely due to the Rotary-Kerber HeartSafe Campaign. This is a truly heartwarming story.
“Hello Barbara and the Iowa City Noon Rotary Club members,
This has been a difficult and divisive year for all of us, so I wanted to brighten your day with a little bit of Joy from Seattle Washington. My name is Greg Abbey and I am celebrating an extraordinary anniversary, in an important way due to you and the philanthropy of the Iowa City Noon Rotary Club. I am writing to give you and some incredibly wonderful people in Iowa a BIG THANK YOU! for the important community work you do.
You see, some time ago, your club made it possible to donate AED units to some of the first responders in your area. One officer, Robert Conrad of the Iowa State Patrol was able to secure one of those life saving AED units and has carried it around with him in his patrol car for a few years. He carried it so long that by last year, the batteries needed replacement and he had to petition his superiors for funds to replace the battery, which he had paid for out of his own pocket.
Last year, I flew out from Seattle with a friend and was having the time of my life riding in that massive event/bike-ride/rolling party you call the RAGBRAI, enjoying the beautiful state of Iowa and especially the friendliness and comradery shown to me by your fellow Iowans. On this day, one year ago, 83 hot miles of riding out of Indianola, my heart stopped and I died at the side of the road near Lake Rathbun, just short of Centerville.
I’d been in accident in Indianola 5:30 that morning only minutes into my ride. A fellow cyclist needed some help and as I slowed, another cyclist not paying attention, ran me over and broke my derailleur. A hard part to find for a highly specialized bike early in the morning in small town Iowa, but the Iowa Bike shops were up to the task and I sped out of town on a gruesomely hot day at 10:30 AM. By mid afternoon after those 83 miles, I was pretty cooked, and the feeling of a lump in my chest caused me to pull over to step off my bike. Honestly, I don’t remember anything else from that day except the loud metallic clunk of a gurney being clamped down as I momentarily met the gaze of the helicopter pilot looking down at me as we headed to the MercyOne Iowa Heart Center in Des Moines.
What I missed after everything went black, was a gift of extraordinary luck or providence. Two EMT’s from the Johnson-Grimes Fire department, brothers Ty & Ryan Wheeler, just happened to be riding their bikes a few hundred yards behind me…I might have even passed them earlier as I was riding hard to make up for my lost hours in the morning. What a stroke of luck to have a pair of EMT’s moments away just as you have a heart attack! 15 minutes of CPR later, I am told, Officer Robert Conrad of the Iowa State Patrol who was providing safety to riders down the road arrived on the scene. What a stroke of luck to have an officer with an AED and new batteries nearby just as you have a heart attack! It took three shocks from the paddles to get my heart restarted and return me to this world. The Wheeler brothers, Officer Conrad, and your AED device saved my life that day.
They say I took and ambulance to nearby MercyOne in Centerville and immediately transferred me for the helicopter ride landing me at Des Moines MercyOne Iowa Heart Center where my lucky streak continued as Dr Verhofste, Head of Cardiology with his amazing team of doctors and nurses prioritized an emergency triple bypass and gave me many more grateful years of life. As I lay in the hospital in quite some pain I was visited by the Iowa Patrolmen Sergeant (now lieutenant) Nathan Ludwig and Robert Conrad who shared the story of how Conrad acquired one of only a very few AED’s carried by the State Patrol, provided by your Rotary. These have not been issued to the troopers in your state so what a stroke of luck that it was one of the only officers in the state who carried his own AED, who bought a new battery for it, was the man at my side.
I want you to know that I am in great health now, enjoying my work, my family and grandchildren. I was even preparing to ride in this year’s RAGBRAI where I hoped to bring you my thanks in person. Let’s hope for a healthy next year.
Maybe it wasn’t luck at all, but rather the care and love for even a stranger in need, and the foresight of the good people of Iowa like you of the Iowa City Noon Rotary, the Johnson-Grimes Fire Department, the Iowa State Patrol and so many dedicated teams of people at Mercy One. Today is my first re-birthday and I want to Thank You for being a part of it and celebrate with me!
With sincere thanks and forever gratefulness,
Your honorary Iowan at heart,
Luckiest guy ever,
Greg Abbey”
