Perkasie Man Reunites With His Life Savers

Hugs all around in emotional gathering with Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, Grand View Health and EMS

By Joe Nixon

David and Jillian Byrne greet EMT Tania Breithaupt and Paramedic Scott Huttenlock of MEDIC 151. Huttenlock was on the crew who responded to the Byrne home when David had his heart attack.

Shailendra Singh, MD, (second from left) with David and Jillian Byrne and MEDIC 151 crew members.

Shailendra Singh, MD, of Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, hugs Jillian Byrne, while David Byrne (right) looks on.

The Impella® heart pump held by Shailendra Singh, MD, of Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute.

Close-up of the Impella® heart pump, the world’s smallest, used to help pump blood for David Byrne to allow his injured heart to rest.

Almost a year after nearly losing his life to a heart attack that left him without a heartbeat, David Byrne stood among those who saved him to say thank you.

In a celebration under sunny skies Wednesday (April 13) at Grand View Health in Sellersville, Byrne and his wife, Jillian, spoke of April 22, 2021, the day that changed their lives forever. Byrne suffered a heart attack that morning because of a totally blocked left anterior descending artery, known as a “widow maker” because of its high mortality rate, especially in cardiac arrest that occurs outside the hospital.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for everyone in this room playing their part and doing their job better than it needed to be done.” – David Byrne

The backstory

Byrne, a 38-year-old former Marine, was initially taken to Grand View Health, just miles from his home, then transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Cedar Crest, where he remained in the cardiac intensive care unit for two months. His blocked artery was opened in the cardiac catheterization lab at Grand View by Shailendra Singh, MD, Co-Director of Interventional Vascular Cardiology at Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute. Singh also inserted a temporary Impella® heart pump – the world’s smallest heart pump – to help Byrne’s heart rest from the shock of the heart attack.

Grand View Health and Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute are longtime partners. And since late 2019, the Heart and Vascular Institute has provided around-the-clock interventional cardiology coverage for the state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab at Grand View.

Read the full story of Byrne’s remarkable cardiac odyssey.

Thanks and gratitude

From the emergency medical services crew that responded to the Byrne home, to those at Grand View Health and LVH–Cedar Crest who cared for Byrne, it was a day to give thanks for a win, to shake hands and hug.

“Without you guys, we wouldn’t be standing here today,” Jillian Byrne says. “The care he received was amazing, so thank you to everyone for everything you’ve done.”

Her husband, who continues outpatient cardiac rehabilitation at Grand View, says there are many people to thank, far more than attended Wednesday’s reunion ceremony.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for everyone in this room playing their part and doing their job better than it needed to be done,” Byrne says. “Everyone that had a hand in keeping me alive today, I don’t know how to thank you. But I will try my best to lead a good life from here on out.”

Singh says Byrne’s case is an “unforgettable story” that has had a tremendous impact on his career as an interventional cardiologist. “Celebrating victories like today’s, and David’s recovery, is important because it takes a team to be successful in saving someone’s life in this scenario,” Singh says.

In addition to David and Jillian Byrne and Singh, speakers at the reunion event included Grand View Interim President and CEO Douglas Hughes, RN, and Ronald Freudenberger, MD, Physician in Chief, Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute. Representatives from Abiomed, maker of the Impella® heart pump, were also at the event. An exhibit demonstrating how the pump works was available for attendees to view.