ORANGE
CITY, FLORIDA, October 26, 2009 –
This past summer 38 year old Lance
Raymond showed up ready to hit the field for his weekly soccer game; little did
he know he would literally hit the field. During the second half of the game he
got thirsty, “I knew I had to keep playing because we didn’t have any subs, but
I really needed a drink. I remember walking to the sideline and the next thing
I knew I was waking up in the back of an ambulance.” A completely healthy
Raymond had just gone in to spontaneous cardiac arrest.
While waiting for EVAC to arrive, three off-duty
fire fighters who were at the field tried to resuscitate Raymond by
administering CPR. Once EVAC arrived, they defibrillated him three times before
transporting him to the Emergency Room at Florida Hospital Fish Memorial.
Emergency Medicine physician Dr. Gary Goodman recalls getting the report from
EVAC. “We weren’t sure what we were getting. We knew he had been in extremis
for almost six minutes, but coming from a soccer game we were unclear if there
were any other underlying injuries.”
After arriving, Dr. Goodman and the ER staff were able to fully examine
Raymond and take him from critical to stable condition. Once stable, Raymond
was later transported to another local hospital where he underwent a five
vessel bypass surgery.
After being visited in the hospital by everyone who
had helped him, Raymond wanted to return to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial to
visit Dr. Goodman and the ER staff, “I never expected to get the level of care
that I received. There are thirty beds in that ER, what makes me any different
than the guy lying next to me? But Dr. Goodman made me feel like I was the only
one in that hospital. And to find out that he was calling to check up on me,
and then came to visit after I was transferred to another hospital, you just
don’t find that kind of care at most hospitals. That is something that will
always stay close to my heart.”
Having made a full recovery, Raymond was almost
unrecognizable to Dr. Goodman, “I see this big tall guy call my name and come
running at me with open arms. I didn’t recognize him at first; he looked
completely different than the lethargic patient I saw in the hospital. You
don’t normally see patients make a complete recovery after going through
something that traumatic. Someone upstairs must have a bigger purpose for his
life.”
Raymond and his wife plan to take everyone out for
a “thank you” dinner, “How do you thank someone for saving your life? It’s not
like you can buy them a $10 gift card to Old Navy and call it a deal. My wife
and I decided we would take everyone out to dinner. They’ll be able to meet our
children that were at the field that night, and hopefully they’ll be able to
see what they were able to give back to my family by saving my life.”