'I hadn't ever been dead before': CTV News Vancouver's Mike McCardell and his cardiologist reflect on close call
Mike McCardell doesn’t remember much about those three days in September.
And what he does recall, he tries to reason, doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense.
“I was in a blackness – total, absolute blackness," he says. "I could touch the blackness, I could taste the blackness."
And somewhere in that, he thinks, was light.
“That’s what everybody wants to hear: you saw a light,” McCardell says. “Yeah I did, I saw a light. But it was red.”
McCardell laughs.
Somehow, in the span of a few short weeks, he seems to have grown uncomfortably at ease with the fact for a few moments or minutes, he’s not sure exactly how long, his heart shut down.
“The heart went out of rhythm, that’s all, like it was squirting out when it should have been squirting in,” he says. “And then it stopped.”
It wasn’t a heart attack.
But a type of irregular heartbeat known as ventricular fibrillation.
And it seemed to come out of nowhere, though in retrospect, McCardell says, those close to him, from his CTV News photographer, to his editor, to his wife’s boss, were telling him, he didn’t look well.
Hindsight being what it is, he admits, perhaps, he should have listened.
“Would I be bright enough to think that because I’m dizzy and I have to hold onto a wall and I have to sit down, that something’s wrong? No!” McCardell said.
His wife’s manager insisted on driving the pair to the UBC hospital.
McCardell took a few steps, then collapsed in the driveway
“(My doctor) said, 'I never expected to see you again, ever. You were dead,'” McCardell recalls.
An emergency room team, including Dr. Noah Alexander, as well as cardiologist Dr. Graham Wong, brought McCardell back to life.
“He knew what he was doing so he crushed right through the ribs, broke two ribs so he could get right to the heart,” McCardell says.
Wong calls McCardell lucky.
He describes the cardiac arrest as “an electrical problem where the rhythm of the heart changed from a regular one to a chaotic one.”
Something, Wong says, that unlike a heart attack, doesn’t often come with clear warning signs, and even if it did, they're typically unique to each person.
“The heart, essentially, instead of beating, quivers,” Wong says.
McCardell was placed into a coma.
His body temperature was regulated.
And he was transferred to Vancouver General Hospital’s cardiac intensive care unit.
Somewhere in those three days, he received a special implant.
“This is me and my defibrillator,” McCardell says, showing me the outline, about the circumference of a golf ball, under his breast pocket.
“If it gets out of beat, this thing sends a shock to it. A very strong shock, like the kick of a horse, I’m told.”
He doesn’t want to find out.
Wong calls the “fancy pacemaker” like a “paramedic in your pocket."
“Almost like an insurance policy,” Wong says. “You hope you never need to use it.”
“I feel better. I feel lucky. I feel blessed. I feel amazed,” McCardell says.
We're interrupted when a golden leaf falls from a tree above us right into his hand.
He smiles: "Holy mackerel!"
And Wong adds one big reason McCardell likely survived is not luck, but because of where he collapsed, with trained professionals just seconds away.
He’s now advocating for anyone who is able to get trained in how to administer CPR with organizations like the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, or St. John's Ambulance.
“Anybody can save a life,” Wong says.
And when I ask McCardell what advice he might give to his former self?
“Listen to your camera guy, listen to your editor, whoever it is, your wife,” he says.
“If they say you look crummy and you should go to a doctor, go to a doctor.”
“Now I’m officially not dead,” McCardell adds.
“So do I have something to be thankful for? You bet!”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Why drivers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will see a gas price spike, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
How to avoid the trap of becoming 'house poor'
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Toxic forever chemicals in drinking water: Is Canada doing enough?
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
McDonald's customers left with 'zero value' collection of free hot drink stickers after company ends program
It took years for Vinnie Deluca to collect more than 400 cards worth of free McDonald's McCafe coffee, a collection that now has "zero value" after the company discontinued the program.
Biden scores endorsements from Kennedy family, looking to shore up support against Trump and RFK Jr.
U.S. President Joe Biden will accept endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Thursday as he aims to undermine Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When new leaders took over in ancient Maya, they didn't just bury the former royals. They burned their bodies in public
New archeological investigations in Guatemala reveal that the ancient Maya people had a ritual of burning royal human remains as a public display of political regime change.
Party's over: Coyotes play final game as Arizona franchise before move to Salt Lake City
Mullett Arena buzzed like few times in the two years since the Arizona Coyotes moved in, the fans amped for one last desert hurrah.