Bill Kushubar, Harrisburg, PA –54 at time of event (2009)
Bill says he’s not much of a golfer, in fact he doesn’t play anymore. It’s just isn’t the same game for him. He also doesn’t eat breakfast sausages anymore, the last ones were especially cooked on the grill that Sunday morning. But he does stay in touch with his golfing buddies. Especially Charlie.
Charlie Sourbeer had learned CPR 15 years earlier at work. He remembered how to do it, and Bill can testify to that fact.
“On the 15th hole I fell over. My friends thought I was kidding because I hit a bad shot! But then [he] saw I was turning purple. He [Charlie] started CPR, including mouth to mouth,” Bill said with admiration.
Charlie barked orders out to the other fellows between breaths. “Call 9-1-1. Go get help, there’s a defibrillator at the clubhouse,” or something to those effects. Bill was at that point unconscious and not breathing so he can only relay what he’s been told. He also recalls that Charlie was rather direct in his commands as the other fellows were panicking.
“One guy started to walk [back to the clubhouse] and Charlie said take the cart, you dummy!” Bill said with a chuckle. “The guy went for the defibrillator, but couldn’t find it!”
“So, Charlie kept working on me, and as he did a passing jogger saw the commotion and came on down.” Tim, the jogger, worked for Keystone health as a personal trainer and knew CPR. Charlie had effectively been doing pushups for 20 minutes and was getting tired, so Tim relieved him. The ambulance was having trouble negotiating the soggy fairways and so they sought help from the grounds crew. A flat bed truck used for landscaping was available, and deemed more suitable than the golf carts. Of course, the Par 3 15th hole was furthest from the clubhouse.
“The cops first defibrillated me, and they had to do it four or five times!” Bill said, almost in pride.
However he was told that Charlie was reluctant to let the policeman attend to Bill.
“Charlie said to the cop, ‘Do you know how to use that thing? And the cop said, ‘Yeah, it’s idiot proof – otherwise they wouldn’t give it to me!’ And so they were able to revive me.” Bill explained.
Once in the parking lot, the ambulance crew had to defibrillate Bill another four or five times.
“They had to do it, you know, my heart had stopped beating.”
Eventually he was taken to the nearest hospital, Harrisburg Osteopathic.
“They read me last rites, twice!” Bill exclaimed. But, he went on to say they did keep him alive until he was stable enough to be transported to Harrisburg Hospital.
“My wife was saying to them, ‘You got a cooling blanket?’ And they said ‘No.’ My wife’s a nurse, so she said ‘Do you have ice?’ “ So they put plastic bags of ice under his armpits and groin to cool his body down and protect his brain tissue.
Finally, he was airlifted to Hospital of University of Pennsylvania for cardiac diagnosis and treatment.
“The first helicopter was sent back because it couldn’t fit me and the intubator!”*
Three weeks later Bill woke up with no recollection of what happened during that time. He’d been on a ventilator for 12 days, and wasn’t able to go home until five weeks from that golfing Sunday. He did take an ICD home with him in his chest.
“They found no reason for my cardiac arrest, I have no heart blockages. I was a bit overweight, I’ve lost thirty pounds since that time, and I have a much better diet now.” Bill said. “I’ve made a lot of changes to my life, the way I approach it, and try not to get too excited about things that aren’t under my control, anymore.”
Bill used to be a “hard driving nut” and he now thinks, “It was the hand of God to wake me up.”
-Jeremy Whitehead
* Bill’s breathing was being assisted by a mechanical ventilator and they could not risk it being removed for the trip.