Man with No Pulse Runs
5K. (Seriously!)
by Sheila Burke · 10/24/2017
Have you
ever asked yourself, “How much more of this can I possibly take?” Well, then
this is the story for you because the story of Mark Sandy will surely put life
into perspective for all of us.
Mark Sandy
and his family live in Circleville, Ohio which is just outside of Columbus.
They lived a fairly normal life. He had had a few heart attacks before, but in
December of 2012, he suffered the worst one. It was a massive heart attack. His
heart stopped for five minutes and he aspirated into his lungs. He died.
The Columbus
hospital induced a coma and transported him to the Cleveland Clinic about four
hours away. He woke up about 10 days later in a different city, his family was
there with him (even his mother from England was there.)
Being so far
from home his family remained there as well. It was really tough on his wife
Tracey. Now I just met Tracey. In fact, I met her in a kindness group on
Facebook and she was sharing a story about how her family performs random acts
of kindness. I messaged her for permission to use her words in a post. It was
then that I learned of her larger story – the story about HOW kindness became
woven into her family – how kindness from a stranger actually kept her afloat
during dark days.
“We were at
the hospital waiting on a bus, we hardly had any money. We were sleeping in the
hospital waiting room,” Sandy tells Being Better Humans. “A stranger came over
and told me that he’d had a heart transplant and that he would be praying for
our family. He put something in my hand and hugged me and my son. As he walked
away, I opened my hand to find $200, my son and I couldn’t believe it. A stranger. It was a blessing.”
Mark’s heart
was in such bad shape that death was imminent. At the end of December, the
doctors told Tracey that he wasn’t going to make it. Then a miracle happened. A
device was available as a last chance. It is called LVAD. They would surgically
implant the LVAD, a battery-operated, mechanical pump, which then helps the
left ventricle (main pumping chamber of the heart) pump blood to the rest of
the body.
The only
problem was, the family had no insurance and it was really, really expensive.
They prayed. The Cleveland Clinic ended up paying for the device for Mark with
no cost to him. On January 9th, 2013 Mark Sandy got a new chance at life.
After 7 long
months, The Sandy Family, including Mark, all finally returned home. It has
been a lot of hard work but Mark is doing well.
Tracey told
us, “My husband now has a Lvad, it is an electric heart pump. He has no blood
pressure or pulse nor a heartbeat. He has been waiting for a heart for almost 5
years now. He is doing okay with his heart pump at the moment. He ran a 5k this
summer. Without our community supporting us, we wouldn’t have made it. People
were so kind and generous so we feel we have to give back.”
Yes, you
read that right. Mark ran a 5k this summer. Pretty incredible for someone who
technically doesn’t have a pulse. Or a heartbeat.
You would
think so far this story is incredible as it is, but Tracey told us, “Mark is
hooked up to batteries at all times. If you look at the picture of him running,
you can see his battery pack. Anyways, last October (2016), he had a broken
wire in the Lvad so they kept him in the hospital to wait for a donor’s heart.”
“We were
told he wouldn’t come home without a new heart. All of October passed then
November and the week of Christmas, they found out, he had cancer and they took
him off the transplant list. They found cancer on his kidney by a fluke. They
were looking at the wires but found cancer instead,” Sandy recounts, “They
ended up replacing the electric heart pump. He became diabetic, then had a
stroke, his first seizure, then he was in respiratory distress. Medication
damaged his lungs.”
Mark is now
cancer-free.
“I have what
Iron Man has but not the Hollywood version! And, except I can’t fly,” Mark
tells BBH. “The Lvad is great for people with end-stage heart failure or
congestive heart failure. And when I tell people this it gives them hope. It
not only has saved my life but changed my whole world for the better.”
“I now see
everyone as equals and everyone is beautiful. I see seasons in detail, I see
the need to help people that others frown upon. I see that life is too short to
waste time.”
“I have
learnt so much about the human body, me, how fragile life can be and where I
want to be. Five years ago I was quiet and just had a regular life. Now I am
confident and want to stand up in front of people and tell my story.”