Ty Gardner's brother, Tracy, has appealed for donations to help the volunteer firefighter as he recovers
Credit: Loyal Fire Department/Facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- Volunteer firefighter Ty Gardner suffered a massive heart attack after battling grass fires in Oklahoma
- Ty’s heart stopped multiple times in the ICU after he went to the hospital with suspected smoke inhalation
- The firefighter’s brother, Tracy, referred to Ty as a “walking miracle,” and asked for donations to support him during his recovery
A volunteer firefighter is speaking out after suffering a "massive" heart attack while responding to a fire in Blaine County, Oklahoma.
On Saturday, March 28, the Loyal Fire Department announced in a post on Facebook that Ty Gardner had “a massive heart attack” earlier in the week after heading to the hospital for suspected smoke inhalation.
“He is currently in ICU at Integris Baptist Heart Hospital and he is in critical condition, fighting for his survival,” they wrote at the time. “Please keep him, the family, our firefighters in your thoughts & prayers. We will post information later for opportunities for donations or for ways to help.”
Credit: Loyal Fire Department/Facebook
During his time in the ICU, Ty’s heart stopped multiple times, according to KOCO 5, however, the volunteer firefighter is now on the mend.
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"I feel much better. That right there is about all I got left," he told the outlet, while showing the tubes that were connected to him. "That should be out this afternoon—it’s a swan line [a thin, flexible tube inserted through a vein into the pulmonary artery to monitor heart and lung hemodynamics].”
Ty said hospital staff had to resuscitate him “three or four times” before “I was actually back."
"David Macy was there at the right place and right time," he said of the Pafford Medical Services deputy director of operations who encouraged him to go to the hospital, KOCO 5 reported.
Credit: Loyal Fire Department/Facebook
He added to KSNW, "I pretty much died three times in the last couple of days."
On the day of the incident, Gardner had been fighting grass fires in Oklahoma for hours. The blazes were caused by strong winds and extreme fire conditions.
“The wind was blowing hard because I couldn’t get it stopped, just because of all the brush and everything,” he told KSNW. “And so I was using roads and anything we could for firebreaks so we could backburn.”
Ty suffered a heart attack once he arrived at the hospital after paramedics did an electrocardiogram on him in the ambulance.
"90% or higher of patients who have this type of heart attack don’t make it,” Macy told KSNW.
He was then flown to Oklahoma City after medics did more CPR on him, per KOCO 5.
"He lost a lot of blood, and they ended up having to re-intubate him and do a little CPR. His heart stopped again. They got him back again," Ty’s brother, Tracy Gardner, who is a captain with the Loyal Fire Department, told KOCO 5.
Ty added, "I don’t remember anything from the time I climbed in the back of the ambulance until I woke up in this bed. It was probably about four days."
In an update on Facebook on April 2, Ty’s brother, Tracy, wrote, “Today is the one-week mark from when Ty had his widow maker. This morning, he had surgery to remove the ECMO [life support] machine. Yesterday, his surgeon told me that his heart is doing better than he ever thought it would. My brother is a walking miracle.”
He added that people can donate to support Ty during his recovery. "No matter how big or small, all donations are greatly appreciated,” Tracy wrote.
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