BTU: Cal Fire-Butte County engineer recovering - On Duty Heart Attack

"100 percent chance of coming back"

County firefighter coming back from massive on-duty heart attack

Firefighter Tony Sonday (foreground) talks about the heart attack that he survived with help from his boss, Capt. Sean Norman (back left) and Enloe Medical Center paramedic Mark Walker (back right). Here, he shows the marks from the defibrillator paddles that were used on him.(Ty Barbour/Staff Photo)

GRIDLEY -- Firefighter Tony Sonday said he remembers almost nothing about the massive heart attack that nearly took his life May 9.

If not for artery graft scars on his legs, burns from defibrillator paddles, and the stories of heroism and near tragedy flying around his fire station in Gridley, he might not believe it happened at all.

Three weeks after the attack, the Cal Fire-Butte County engineer is just starting to recall details, aided by relieved fellow crew members who are now anxious to fill in the blanks.

One of them is his boss, Capt. Sean Norman, a veteran emergency medical technician and the man most responsible for saving his life.

Sonday said the attack came on a Saturday morning as his crew was finishing up the second phase of a structure fire drill. He was about to start picking up hoses when he suddenly felt sick to his stomach and a little dizzy.

Norman was right there and at first thought Sonday was suffering from heat exhaustion. When he threw up some water, Norman asked if he was having chest pains.

Sonday said he was, but never recalled having that "elephant sitting on my chest" kind of pain other victims have described.

Norman called for an ambulance.

Within a few minutes, the stricken firefighter was being monitored for blood pressure. Norman, working with Enloe Medical Center paramedic Mark Walker, noticed signs of an irregular heartbeat, but figured that could be from heat.

Norman left Walker with the patient and began working on staffing changes for the day, realizing Sonday would be at least temporarily out of commission.

When he went back to check on Sonday, Norman said a 12-lead heart monitor Walker had hooked up showed some serious abnormalities.

He said the firefighter began to get anxious. Sonday was responding to questions about what he was feeling, but doesn't remember any of it. As he deteriorated, complaining about numbness and stabbing pains in his legs, Norman and Walker decided a fast trip to Enloe was in order. Norman said he still wasn't convinced it was a heart attack, but hadn't completely ruled it out.

Norman said Sonday at first asked him not to call his wife. Further down the road, near Biggs, Norman recalled Sonday saying, "I think you better call my wife."

Norman said he eventually reached her and said he felt comfortable reassuring her it was a "minor situation."

Within seconds, Norman said Sonday went into full cardiac arrest — the first of four during the 17-minute race against time to the Chico hospital.

Sonday said nearly all he remembers about the trip is the pain he felt while being defibrillated the first time. Norman said he screamed out and sat up. Sonday remembers a tremendous ringing in his ears.

A powerful drug was administered to block pain from the defib procedure, which Norman and Walker had to do at least 14 more times before reaching Enloe.

Norman said Sonday kept waking up in the ambulance, bouncing back and forth between full arrest and complete alertness. "Under those conditions it was really hard to manage the medications," Norman said. "I'm really glad there were two of us in the back."

Enloe paramedic Buck Wilken drove the ambulance, and said later his foot was sore from trying to push the accelerator through the floorboard.

Norman said he's dealt with an untold number of patients going into full cardiac arrest, but said it still feels "surreal" working on one of his own crew members. "When it happens to a member of your group, it just rocks you."

Cher Sonday gathered up the couple's two children, 13 and 16, and beat the ambulance to Enloe.

When it pulled in, Cher said her children could see Norman and Walker feverishly doing chest compressions and screaming at Sonday to get a response. One of her children asked, "Why are they yelling at dad, and how come he isn't answering?"

Sonday was defibrillated 10 more times in the emergency room, and "coded" once for 11 minutes, Norman said.

"Cardiologists gave him a very slim chance of surviving the night," Norman said. "We were told 20 to 30 percent," Cher Sonday recalled.

When he returned to the fire house, Norman said he was unsure what to tell his crew. He answered what questions he could, then said he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Within a few days, Sonday was stabilized enough to receive triple bypass heart surgery.

Following the procedure, Sonday recalls a nurse coming into his room. "You're proof. You're proof that miracles happen," she told him. "When I came to work today I was an agnostic; not now."

His prognosis is good. Sonday said he could be back on light duty in three months, and eventually full duty.

"I've been told I have a 100 percent chance of coming back," he said.

Surrounded by his crew members at Gridley fire station 74 on Thursday, Sonday said he was getting most of the details about his heart attack for the first time.

Thursday was also the first chance Sonday had to thank Norman and Walker for all they did to save his life, and to thank his crew and other Cal Fire members who looked after his family. "They did everything for us," he said.

Sonday said he's feeling a little better every day, though he still suffers from extreme fatigue. "More than anything, this ordeal has really thrown off my sleeping pattern," he said. "But I think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

Sonday has shed 30 pounds since the attack, but said he doesn't recommend it as a weight-loss procedure.

Cher Sonday said she has no misgivings about Tony going back to work. "It's the job he loves; it's his passion," she said.

Sonday never got a hint that his heart might fail. Being adopted, he has no idea what his family medical history might be.

"All I know is I'm going to take better care of myself, and appreciate every day like I never have before," he said. "I wake up every day smiling, and I don't think you'll catch me ever complaining about anything again."

Sonday is 42, going on 43.

Story source: www.chicoer.com - Link