Man who suffered cardiac arrest during Belle Isle run thanks those who saved him

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Two strangers drawn together in a life-or-death moment.

"Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart," said David Gallagher.

His heart - that's what this is all about. A month ago, Gallagher, 66, an avid runner - was on Belle Isle for the 54th annual New Year's Eve run.

David runs it every year - and luckily, Kate Lloyd, a registered nurse, was there.

"I was running the race - Mr. Gallagher -I watched him pass me," she said. "And he went around the corner ... I saw him lying face down on the pavement."

Lloyd just happened to be at her first New Year's Eve run.

"(I said) Sir can you hear me, sir can you hear me, and at this point someone else came up," she said.

They flipped Gallagher over - his nose was bleeding, he was gasping for air, and was in cardiac arrest.

"We did CPR - three of us rotated," said Lloyd. "They came with the (defibrillator) - and we shocked him a couple times with the AED and EMS arrived," she said. "It was very surreal to be there and not be at work."

And thank goodness she was there.

"If the person who did CPR on him would not have stopped - he would have died - because he was effectively dead at that point," said Dr. Kenton Zehr.  

On this day, David met Kate and everyone who helped him from the Detroit Fire EMTs, to the Emergency Room staff at Detroit Receiving Hospital, and the medical and surgical teams of who inserted the balloon pump and performed the coronary artery bypass.

All of it - saved his life.

"Words can't express the thanks I have for everyone - all the healthcare workers who put themselves in harm's way to help a stranger," he said. "To help me get a second chance at life."

And another chance to run the race.

"I ran it about 17 years in a row - this was my most dramatic finish," he quipped.

Today there was laughter instead of tears - and even a medal from the run.

"You deserve this -you've earned this - so let me present to you your 2023 medal," said Stephen Moran, an official from the run.

A medal and a reminder - that we're all in this together...

"It takes a community - that's what it takes," said Zehr. "It's a whole village of people that are responsible not just one person at all."

"You interrupted your life for a complete stranger," David said. "You saved my life."

And after saving a life, Kate even finished the race - so grateful that in his own way, David, did, too.

"It's just wonderful - my hero - you'll always be," he said.

Kate Lloyd, left, and David Gallagher