Steve Crank loved to cycle. It helped him lose over 50 pounds, and reclaim his health. But on a weekend ride in late June in Preble County, everything changed. His heart gave out. 

“I don’t remember the day of the accident,” said Steve, who went into cardiac arrest near the 40-mile mark of his ride. “That’s been blacked out. I do remember the following Monday waking up at Kettering Medical Center [sic, Kettering Health Main Campus].”

Detailing the day of the accident

Sarah, a Kettering Health (KH) employee, and her husband, Mike, rode with Steve that day. They’ve been helpful since the accident, letting Steve know what happened.

“The first time I met him was that morning,” said Sarah, who works as a speech language pathologist for KH.

Past the halfway point of the ride, Sarah and Mike discovered Steve, who was down on the side of the road.

“We stopped and immediately started to assess him,” Sarah said. “He was very fortunate with where he went down. There was a house directly across the street. Someone came out as we were assessing him, and I told them to call 911. Another very fortunate part is where this house was. There was some sort of go-kart race, and there was already a squad (ambulance) on site.”

Sarah and Mike had already been performing CPR when paramedics arrived to take over. 

Steve, 64, was wearing an Apple watch, which alerted his family and additional rescue personnel.

“His Apple phone was sending random messages that he had no pulse, no heart rate,” Steve’s wife, Mary, said.  “Our second oldest—we have five sons—got the message and called me. He said, ‘what’s going on with Dad?’ I’m like, I don’t know. And so, he had his location, and we all headed that way.”

The beginning of the path to recovery

Steve spent a short time at Kettering Health Preble on Sunday, June 29, before he was flown to the emergency department at KH Main Campus. 

The next few days would be extremely challenging for the Crank family. Steve would deal with broken ribs, a collapsed lung, pneumonia, and the placement of a stent during a heart catheter procedure when it was discovered he had 99% blockage in the left anterior descending artery. 

A piece of plaque had broken off, causing an immediate blockage. 

“That following Monday, the chaplain came in, and we didn’t think he was going to make it,” said Mary, his wife of 25 years.

Steve also suffered an anoxic brain injury from the loss of oxygen during his cardiac arrest. 

“Everyone kept asking us how long he went without oxygen because that would have to do with his recovery and the brain,” Mary said. “Sarah and Mike, they said it was so traumatic for them, they couldn’t tell me if it was one minute or five minutes. They had no idea how long he was without oxygen.”

Thankfully, Steve came off the ventilator after six days. But he faced neurological issues, including some gaps in his short-term memory. According to Mary, he didn’t know the year or the current President of the United States. On July 4, he was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) at KH Main Campus. 

“The first responders performed great CPR which gave him a chance to recover,” said Jennifer Teasdale, the nursing manager in the ICU. “The lack of oxygen made him confused at first, but he continued to improve. He had a lot of pain so we worked hard to help with that. Overall he did extremely well.”

The necessary intensive care

With the support of the ICU personnel, including nurses Emily Rush, Courtney Owens and Shawna Taylor, Steve improved. He was moved to a step-down unit July 7 and was released to an inpatient rehab facility July 15. 

“Considering how far he came is unbelievable,” Mary said. “He went like five days in the hospital not sleeping. We couldn’t get him to sleep or to rest because his brain was just so crazy. They went above and beyond in the ICU. Every single nurse he had was outstanding. I loved them all.”

And Steve, he admits, was not the best patient.

“Yeah,” he said. “They put up with a lot.”

Continuing his journey to wellness

Steve was released to 24-hour supervision at home July 25, and he continues to forge his path of recovery. Physically, he bounced back quickly, and he’s still working with a speech therapist and strengthening other mental capacities weakened from the brain injury. One of those key areas is memory.

“It was really crazy because he didn’t know our dog had died like five years ago,” said Mary, “so he went through all that grief again.” 

Most importantly, he realizes how far he has come in his recovery.

“By all means I should be dead, but I’m alive and I’m very grateful for that,” said Steve, who also hopes to return to work in some capacity. “Healthwise, I feel like I’ve recovered just about 100 percent. My shoulder sometimes gets a little sore. 

“I’m going to get on the bike again, eventually.”

Sarah and Mike, who have remained in contact with the Cranks, hope to be there for the next long ride.