Gene Pierce (left) is recovering from heart surgery, thanks to the efforts of his good friend and neighbor Bob Esmay. A few years ago, the tables were turned on the two.

 

Bob Esmay and Gene Pierce of Marysville have been friends and neighbors for more than 40 years. The two men have enjoyed outdoor activities, mostly hunting and fishing, along with neighborly get-togethers over four decades. But their strongest bond may be the fact that they have each acted quickly to save the other's life.

On August 29, the two men were fishing on Esmay's boat in the Sound near Mukilteo. It had been a good day on the water; Esmay had just hooked a 16-pound silver salmon, which Pierce had netted to bring onboard the boat. It was Pierce's turn to make a catch, but as he prepared to get his line in the water, Esmay heard his friend mutter, "Oh my god."

Thinking Pierce had already hooked a fish, Esmay turned to take a look, and was shocked to see his friend dropping to the ground. Moving quickly, Esmay caught Pierce before he hit the deck, but began to panic when he couldn't find a pulse. As he dialed 9-1-1, Esmay began performing chest compressions. A hint of a pulse returned, and Esmay continued his CPR procedures as he steered the boat toward shore with one hand.

Pierce's heart stopped again, but with dogged determination Esmay redoubled his CPR efforts.

Esmay had learned CPR years before, as a 17-year-old crewmember aboard a passenger charter boat. Even though he hadn't used the skills since, "it just came back to me. Just reflexes, I guess," said Esmay.

Finally they reached the shore, where members of the Mukilteo Fire Department's medic team jumped into the boat and prepared to lift Esmay out. The medics were forced to use a defibrillator to shock his heart back into rhythm three times and insert a breathing tube to get oxygen flowing to his lungs before stabilizing him for transport to Providence Regional Medical Center.

"All I kept thinking was, what will I tell Doris (Pierce's wife) if he doesn't make it?," said Esmay. "I didn't want to have that conversation."

As fate would have it, Doris Pierce wasn't the only family member in the emergency room when Gene Pierce was brought in. His daughter Kathy Del Bianco, an admitting rep for Providence's ER, was working that day and was shocked to see her father's name on a new patient chart. After regaining her professional composure, she began contacting family members with the news.

Gene Pierce was given only a 2 percent chance of survival in the ER. He endured weeks of life-saving procedures-breathing tubes, feeding tubes-followed by seven weeks of intensive speech, physical and occupational therapy. After 68 days in the hospital, Pierce was allowed to go home to await his scheduled quadruple bypass surgery on Dec. 19, 2011.

Throughout his hospitalization, Bob Esmay was a regular visitor, coming to see Pierce five or six days a week, according to Gene's wife Doris.

"He's been such a good friend," said Doris. "I think Bob's good nature has helped speed Gene's recovery."

"I'm just trying to make sure he doesn't leave her early," Esmay joked, "and that he doesn't drive her crazy."

And that other life-saving situation? About two years before Pierce's heart attack on the boat, he and Esmay were returning home from an outing. Suddenly, Esmay-in the driver's seat-suffered a heart attack and passed out. Pierce caught his friend and managed to steer the car to the side of the road. He moved the semi-conscious man over and jumped behind the wheel to drive him to safety.

"I have a pig's valve in my heart now," said Esmay, "and it works great. You can't even see the scar anymore," he said, opening the neck of his shirt.

Pierce is still weak from his recent major surgery, but was set to be released from the hospital this week.

"We'll be hunting and fishing again before you know it," Esmay predicted. "Doris is a really good caregiver, and I know Gene will be back on his feet again soon."

blog comments powered by Disqus