City resident David Russell, his wife of 37 years, Mellonie, and their dog, Raven, enjoyed a leisurely morning cozied up to the fire place in their living room Tuesday during on a bitterly cold January day.
On much warmer day in June 2017, David experienced a medical emergency in this same room of their house — and the first in a pair of cardiac events in recent years. He credits his survival to the quick thinking of local first responders, along with his wife’s instincts, his trusty canine and his caring neighbors.
While out running errands with their daughter, Mellonie said she tried to call Russell multiple times and was unable to reach him on the phone. Feeling a little worried about him, she asked her neighbor, Sherri Ullom, if she would mind checking in on David at their home.
Ullom was able to look through the window of the Russells’ house and while she could only see David’s feet in his easy chair with a window air conditioner blocking her view, she told Mellonie that Raven was sounding the alarm that something was wrong.
Mellonie quickly rushed home and found David slumped over in his chair and called 911. Bellefontaine Fire and EMS were at their house minutes later, and immediately began CPR. Paramedics initially were finding that David had no pulse and they were unsure how long he had been down.
While the situation didn’t look very hopeful, Melloni said one of David’s former tai kwon do students was a paramedic on the scene and he encouraged that they try a new device that the department had recently obtained in 2017 — an AutoPulse, which wraps around a patient’s chest and provides high-quality automated compressions to victims of sudden cardiac arrest.
The device was applied to David, and Mellonie said within three to four minutes, he was successfully resuscitated. The city resident was transported by squad to Mary Rutan Hospital, and then transported by Robinaugh EMS to OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus.
“Our Bellefontaine Fire and EMS and Robinaugh squad members were wonderful — they took such good care of David,” Mellonie said. “He wouldn’t be here with us if it weren’t for them.
“The dispatchers helped me through a very scary time as well.”
While at Riverside, David was in a coma for several weeks after the cardiac arrest, and his wife was given grim news from his doctors that they weren’t detecting any brain activity. However, shortly after David’s oldest brother came to the hospital to say his good-bye’s, David began responding and miraculously was able to return home a few weeks later.
Following the medical emergency, the city resident and San Diego area native underwent a battery of tests, including MRIs and genetic testing, to determine what had caused the issue. His cardiologist found that the only real damage to his heart was that his lower left ventricle had been stretched during the cardiac event.
“The tests came up pretty inconclusive and my doctor said my heart actually is very healthy, like that of a person about 10 years younger than I am,” the 62-year-old said. “It really bothered him that he couldn’t tell me what exactly was wrong with me.”
While he made a successful recovery, a little over a year later, David experienced a second cardiac arrest in late December 2018. Fortunately, Mellonie was home at the time, and she was able to call 911.
Bellefontaine Fire and EMS once again transported David to Mary Rutan Hospital.
Robinaugh EMS then attempted to transport David to the OSU Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, but he was unstable en route, “flatlining multiple times,” his wife said, so the ambulance instead made a detour to Dublin Methodist Hospital.
“A helicopter happened to be ready to go there, after just bringing someone to the Dublin hospital, so MedFlight was able to transport David to OSU,” Mellonie explained.
“It was just a miracle how everything worked out that day.
“All of the paramedics assisting us and the MedFlight staff, they were just so wonderful as well.”
While at OSU, it took a few weeks before David was stable, but he has made a successful recovery since then, while navigating some difficulties with memory loss from the medical trauma. He also was encouraged by his doctor to take an early retirement from his longtime position at Huntington National Bank in Columbus.
Now the car enthusiast fills his time with involvement in the Top of Ohio Cruisers, and as a self-taught musician, is enjoying re-learning how to play a variety of musical instruments. He also participates in activities celebrating his Piqua Shawnee heritage.
He also pays frequent visits to the Bellefontaine Fire and EMS Department to take sweet treats to the first responders who helped to save his life.
Bellefontaine Fire Department Assistant Chief Dwayne Dow said David is a welcome visitor.
“It’s always a good day when it’s Russell coming in to see us,” he said this week. “We want to keep it that way, that we’re not having to come to his house again; we’re glad to see him healthy.”
Also in 2017, the AutoPulse Resuscitation System was credited with helping to save the life of Bellefontaine Fire and EMS paramedic and firefighter David Crissman, as previously detailed in an Examiner story. Crissman was able to go back to his position following his recovery, and recently retired from the department in December.
Since that time, Dow said the department has purchased two additional units so that they have an AutoPulse available in each of the three Advance Life Support trucks. The AutoPulse has a backboard and a strap to go around a victim’s chest, and makes it possible for rescuers to provide high-quality CPR while moving a patient and reduces interruptions in compressions during transport.
In addition to her husband’s fire station visits, Mellonie said she was inspired by their local first responders, so much so that she completed the Bellefontaine Police Department’s Citizen’s Police Academy, and now enjoys giving back as a member of the alumni group.