Cardiac Arrest, Fell off Roof, Dead, He’s Alive

CAPE MAY – Anyway one looks at it, Brendan McBride’s survival of falling from a roof, his heart stopping multiple times, a blocked artery that was stented and his subsequent hospital release 12 days later, is nothing short of a miracle. Or multiple miracles as McBride and friends see it.    
While he still faces a long recovery, McBride believes it’s through the “power of prayers and positive thoughts” that enabled him to survive the events.
He will have the opportunity to cheer his 5-year-old son at “future sporting events, help him with homework, teach him his craft and trade, and love him with real-life warm hugs again.”
The 49-year-old McBride, a Cape May native who works for Cold Spring Carpentry, of Cape May, was helping another contracting company replace the roof at a Cape May business March 8 when he suffered a cardiac event.
While McBride said he doesn’t remember anything, his friends and co-workers have relayed to him what happened on that sunny, warm day.
“Brendan was finishing up his workday to go pick up his son, Desmond, from day care,” said long-time friend Lauren Maguire, who is Desmond’s mother. 
“Co-workers reported that Brendan was complaining about heartburn all day, and noticed he seemed lethargic and tired. As he was bringing a trash can full of roof debris over to the edge of the roof to empty into a dumpster, his buddy noticed he was getting really sluggish and suggested he just leave it and finish the next day. 
“That is when Brendan turned to him, clutched his heart, and began to fall backward off of the roof. 
“Somehow his co-worker was able to make his way to Brendan just in time to grab the hood of his sweatshirt and save his life,” Maguire continued. “That’s Miracle One I think.”
The awnings of the building had been just put up for the season, and his co-worker was able to direct McBride’s “now-limp body onto the nearest awning and hold him there until another co-worker and friend could catch him from the ground,” added Maguire.
“Saving him from hitting the ground is Miracle Two.”
That co-worker was a former emergency medical technician and a medical professional, so he knew to raise McBride’s legs, pound on his back and begin chest compressions to keep him alive until medical help could arrive, according to Maguire.
“This was Miracle Three.”
In the meantime, 911 was called, and the ambulance was three blocks away and arrived quickly.
“Because of this,” Maguire explained, “they were able to revive Brendan, and we don’t believe he went without oxygen for more than a minute or so: Miracle Four.”
However, McBride died. Rescuers had to use the (defibrillator) paddles three times to revive him, according to his friend. After being put into the ambulance, a medivac helicopter was close enough to meet him at the National Guard Armory in Crest Haven to fly him to a hospital.
Maguire, who is an outpatient mental health counselor at Cape Counseling, was working in the back of her office building with a clear view of the armory.
“I remember seeing a helicopter land and take off, and I realized I was probably watching someone get medically airlifted,” she recalled. “I said a silent prayer. Never did I imagine that I was watching Brendan take off for AtlantiCare Mainland Division Hospital.”
McBride’s artery was 99 percent blocked. An emergency stent saved his life, according to Maguire.
“He was then placed into a medically-induced coma to cool down his body temperature for 24 hours and minimize any brain swelling so it could start to heal,” she said. “He had some seizures during the cooling process. It was a very scary time, and we didn’t know if he would ever wake up.”
The warm-up was supposed to take 24 hours but went a bit longer. “On March 11, three days after Brendan ‘died,’ he showed signs of life,” Maguire said. “The family had been holding his hands, talking to him. I decided to start to sing, and that is when I noticed his top lip and his eyebrows began to move. 
“He even squeezed my hand. We were relieved that he was alive, but also enormously scared about brain damage, amongst other possible health complications,” she added.
Slowly, over the next two days, he showed more signs of awakening. He opened his eyes and moved his body. 
He finally woke March 13 and was able to have some quiet talk, although he was still in and out. 
Maguire saw him March 16 and was thrilled. “His color was good, we had a real conversation, and we even laughed,” she noted.
The next day he was able to stand, and the following day he moved from the Intensive Care Unit to a regular room.
She was able to bring his son, Desmond, to the hospital March 19 to see his father. “It was a beautiful day,” Maguire said about the day her son saw McBride again. 
“All the events together certainly are a true miracle and a second chance at life,” she continued.
McBride was released from the hospital March 20 and has spent the time at home trying to recover.
“I’m trying to sleep a lot,” he said when contacted March 23. “While I appreciate all the well-wishers calling, it’s wearing me down a bit. I need to get my strength back.”
McBride visited his cardiologist March 27 to learn his next steps. For now, he knows he has to make major lifestyle changes.
“No more smoking, no more drinking, and eating better,” he admitted. “I’ve gone to a monk’s lifestyle overnight, but I’m willing to make those changes when you consider the alternative.”
Maguire has started a GoFundMe campaign (https://www.gofundme.com/BrendanMcB) to help McBride with co-pays of his medical insurance and other non-covered expenses.
“I’ve been making calls to find out about disability and insurance, but we are estimating $30,000 to $40,000 in co-pays for the hospital stay alone,” McBride said. “It’s going to be a long road to recovery.”
On March 24, McBride learned help from disability could take three to six months.
While Maguire said nobody imagined that he would be released so quickly, the doctor has already put McBride “on notice that he likely won’t be able to return to work for months, if not a full year or more.
“Brendan is a man from a family of strong faith,” Maguire said. “He believes in the power of prayer, and this time the power was granted in his direction. He has lived a humble life, often giving much more to others than to himself. 
“He’s also one of the most hilarious, crazy and dynamic personalities I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Nobody who meets Brendan ever forgets him. I wanted to share his story, in this season of Lent, a story of death and resurrection and that miracles still do exist,” she said.
Maguire claims “another miracle” occurred with the timing of the incident.
“Brendan picks up Desmond at his babysitter’s house on Wednesday,” she explained. “Thank God Brendan didn’t have a heart attack while he was driving with Desmond, or even while he was home with Desmond. I can’t imagine a 5-year-old being home alone with daddy suffering a severe heart attack, and I am so grateful this was not the case.”
For now, McBride said he’s lucky to be staying with his brother, who is willing to help him get back on his feet.
“I believe in miracles and thank God for the second chance I am getting,” he said. “I know it’s been the prayers and the power of positive thoughts from my friends and family who have gotten me this far. I continue to need them as I face my recovery.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.