A life-changing moment… McNally gets second chance

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Gloria Austin
TOGETHER AGAIN — Getting together after Katahdin Elementary School’s assembly were, from left, Bev Cullins, Jeff Stephenson, Carol and Dickie McNally. Cullins and Stephenson were instrumental in saving Dickie’s life in May.
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
They are like family. The staff and students of Katahdin Elementary School gathered Monday in a school assembly that brought tears and cheers.
    Katahdin school nurse Bev Cullins and United Parcel Service (UPS) driver Jeff Stephenson were honored for their efforts on a fateful May day at the school.
    “I had no idea it was going to be of this magnitude,” said Stephenson of the assembly. “I thought the four of us would get together and talk about what happened and maybe get a photo taken. I did not know we were going to have a presentation. It’s pretty cool.”
    On hand Monday were Stephenson’s direct supervisor Kim Taylor; William Paige, Northeast District Health and Safety Manager and Tim Mahon, on-road supervisor for the Houlton and Presque Isle UPS facilities.
    “I was really surprised and excited,” said Stephenson. “It is not often you see representatives of UPS coming to northern Maine to talk to some employees. It was nice to see them. It’s really awesome.”
    May 18. It was a day like any other day.
    “You came to school, had your lunch and went home early,” Katahdin Elementary Principal Chris Cunningham told the students at the assembly. “After you went home, Dickie had some trouble here at school and wasn’t feeling well.”
    As Cunningham welled up with emotion, she said, “When they got here, Dickie wasn’t breathing.”
    Custodian Dick McNally told his wife Carol that he felt chest pressure and pain and was sweating.
    “I had no symptoms,” he said. “Absolutely none. I felt good and was working every day. I was fiddle heading the night before. I had a complete physical when I turned 65. I had no idea. It’s scary when you think about it.”
    “When we got there he was white, his mouth was wide open and he had no pulse,” said Carol.
    Cullins, the school nurse, was in a meeting across the street at the high school when the phone rang and someone told her there was an issue at the elementary school.
    “I knew all the students had already left,” said Cullins.
    So, her initial thought was “Great. What is going on?”
    As Cullins was leaving, Carol McNally was coming out behind her and asked Cullins if she was headed home. Cullins explained she was heading to the elementary school, but no one seemed to know what was going on there.
    “She started crying,” Cullins recalled. “She said, ‘It’s Dickie.’ He didn’t feel well and I wanted you to check him before he went home.”
    The two opened the gym door to see Dickie McNally slumped over in a chair in the physical education office.
    “Obviously, there was no response,” said Cullins. “Nothing.”
    Looking back, Cullins said she feels bad about one of her actions, but she also knew it was the right one.
    “I told Carol to get out,” she said. “Carol wanted to stay and talk to him. I told her to go call 9-1-1.”
    While administrating CPR, Cullins could not understand why there was no one else around in the school. She discovered the staff had workshops at the end of one of the corridors, so they did not know what was happening at all.
    Before Carol left, Cullins called her back long enough to have her help put Dickie onto the floor.
    “I started CPR and then, miraculously I hollered for the AED,” Cullins said.
    Cullins has worked within the district since 1988 and the AED was installed in the school three years ago and has never been used, until that day.
    The whole ordeal was transpiring in a very small area, as Cullins was doing percussions, the UPS driver Stephenson came running in and offered his assistance.
    “He came in and did some breathing,” Cullins explained. “He would have jumped off a cliff for me.”
    Stephenson said he was on a routine delivery at the school like every day and when he was leaving, “someone was yelling dial 9-1-1 and Carol told me her husband was dead and needed some help.”
    “I jumped right on it to see what I could do,” he said. “Amazingly, he is here today with no problems.”
    “I don’t know what to say,” said Dickie. “They saved my life. Simple as that. I do not know how to say anymore except, thank you, thank you, thank you. Of course, it’s hard to put into words.”
    “Incredible,” said Mahon. “We have exposure to everyone every day. This is the only time [an incident] like this has ever happened. Unfortunately, it happened. Hopefully, no one has do go through it again. It was good that he was there.”
    Mahon said UPS drivers are not required to be CPR certified.
    “Fortunately he was the day that happened,” Mahon added. “It’s just incredible.”
    Stephenson who has coached basketball, soccer and baseball was trained for first aid. As a master Maine guide for the last 19 years, he is CPR certified, as well.
    “I knew what to do,” he said. “I never actually have done it before and I never thought I would ever have to. But, it is always good to have that training.”
    When the AED arrived, Cullins looked up to see her husband handing her the device.
    “It was emotional,” she said. “My husband and Dickie are very good friends.”
    Cullins followed protocol and used the AED once before the Patten ambulance crew arrived.
    “It just seemed like hours before the ambulance came,” Cullins said. “At one point, I hollered and said, somebody take notes. I wanted them to know what I had done so they could transfer the information to crew and hospital. Someone gave me the times afterward and it wasn’t very long at all and that ambulance was there.”
    A lot of other factors lined up and played out right in saving a life that day.
    “I thought we were gathering to honor Jeff since he is not part of the school,” said Cullins, who had no idea she was being honored as well at the assembly. “It’s a tad embarrassing. I did what I had to do. I hope I never have to do it again. It’s one of those things that will never go away.”
    Stephenson also does not consider himself a hero.
    “No. I don’t get into that kind of thing,” he said. “But, I am glad I was in the right place at the right time to bring him back to his family.”
    In spite of Stephenson’s humility, UPS administrators see him as a hero.
    “I think any opportunity that an individual has to save another’s life in any type of capacity makes him a hero,” said Paige. “That’s why I came up here. I found out what was going on today and wanted to make sure he knew how much we appreciated the time he took to do the little bit he thinks he did.”
Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Gloria Austin
SHARING A MOMENT — Bev Cullins, left, and Jeff Stephenson have a quick laugh during Katahdin’s school assembly honoring their life-saving efforts.
    Paige said not many of the UPS employees, which is 16,000 in the Northeast district, would have known what to do in the same predicament.
    “He was the right person at the right time,” Paige said.
    Stephenson has been nominated for the Liberty Mutual Life Saver Award, which is given only to between 25 and 30 people nationwide annually. Stephenson will know later if he received the award.
    “Though I really don’t know Jeff,” said Carol, “since he is only at the school for a minute or so, I asked him to help … I said, ‘My husband is dead.’”
    What seemed like a lifetime was only five minutes when someone said he took a breath.
    “The AED hanging on the wall, Dickie ironically installed,” said Carol.
    Dickie was taken to Houlton Regional Hospital and transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center by ambulance since it was too cloudy for an air transfer.
    “They took him into the catherization lab and put two stents in one completely blocked artery,” said Carol. “The doctor that evening didn’t offer much hope. He said it would take a miracle and a lot of prayers. The best was [a prognosis of] 50/50.”
    Dickie had not only suffered a heart attack but cardiac arrest.
    Before leaving Houlton Regional Hospital, Dr. Abouleish started an icing process to save Dickie’s brain capacity, working with the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit nurse, who is the McNally’s daughter, Crystal.
    Dickie was comatose in a cooling state for 24 hours and then brought back to temperature.
    “He was on total life support,” said Carol. “He woke up and did commands. His first words were, ‘Do the kids know?’ I said they were already gone. He cried a bit. Then when he woke the second time, he asked if he could go back to work tomorrow.”
    Dickie had an ICD (pacemaker and defibulator) put in. He is continuing his cardiac rehab, but was released to go back to work with no restrictions. He started the same day as the Katahdin Elementary students.
    Though it was a rough summer filled with difficulties, Carol wants others to know that her husband is living proof not all stories end badly.
    “With the proper treatment, CPR and AED in public places and schools, is huge,” she said. “If all of the pieces hadn’t come together, we would have had a different outcome.”
    I feel great,” said Dickie. “I feel just as good as new.”
    As he addressed the students at the assembly, the first words were, “I’m glad we are able to get together today.”
    Dickie thanked the students for the cards and money that they raised through Hat Day and Gum Day for a dollar.
    “I know they brought more than a dollar,” Dickie said.
    The students raised $666 and the McNallys were speechless at this support.
    Dickie went on to thank the staff for cards, prayers and their generosity to him and his wife.
     “Sorry for all the excitement at the end of the school year. I can’t believe you let me back in the building, let alone putting me back to work,” he said smiling at Cunningham, who responded, “Don’t do it again.”
    When Dickie was at EMMC, the anesthesiologist asked him if he was at the hospital when he suffered the heart attack and cardiac arrest.
    “I said, ‘No.’ I was in the gym at school,” he said.
    The anesthesiologist told Dickie he was in the 1 percent bracket of those who make it when not near a hospital.
    “Thank you seems so small for giving me such a huge gift,” said Dickie to his lifesavers. “ A second chance at life.”