Heart Attack Survivor Thanks Camden County Hospital, Man Who He Says Saved Him

CAMDEN, NJ — A Hainesport man who defied the odds and recovered from a heart attack and rare complication recently returned to Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden to thank the former patient and staff he credited with his recovery.

Erik Leach's association with the hospital began on New Year's Eve when he was rushed to the hospital with a heart attack, a hospital spokesperson said.

Even after surgery and several treatments, Leach's body was still not receiving enough oxygen to work correctly. Hence, the hospital put him on a ventilator and "an intensive life-support machine" known as ECMO, according to the spokesperson.

Even with the ECMO, Leach developed a "severe complication, bleeding in his airways, which prevented oxygen from reaching his lungs," said Qiong Yang, Leach's critical care physician.

Consequently, Yang turned off the ventilator, clamped the breathing tube, and put his faith in the ECMO, which directed all of Leach's oxygen into his bloodstream, not the lungs.

It took some time, but finally, Leach began to show signs of recovering.

"[Leach] was on ECMO for about a month. Slowly he was showing signs of being more active, more alert," Yang said in an interview. "Because he had had a tracheotomy, he could not really speak. He learned to say one word at a time so he could communicate."

Leach said his memories of being in the hospital during the ordeal were "hazy."

However, one memory stood out more than the others: another hospital patient, Pennsauken resident and COVID-19 patient Frank Talarico Jr.

"I didn’t forget Frank," Leach said. "Everyone kept telling me ‘you’ll be OK’ and ‘you can do it.’ But it meant the most coming from him since he did it himself."

Leach was discharged from the hospital in March shortly after meeting Talarico. Leach then spent several weeks undergoing various treatments at several inpatient rehabilitation facilities. These days, he receives therapy at an outpatient facility near his home.

On Aug. 30, with the help of hospital staff, Leach met with Yang and Talarico Jr. — who was also discharged from the hospital and is on the road to recovery —at the health care facility where their relationship began.

"It’s not too often in life that you encounter people you don’t know who are willing to go to great lengths for you," Leach said of the get-together. "They took care of me, they gave me hope, they kept me on course."

Talarico said he was amazed by Leach's progress.

"He’s a walking miracle — which is what people have said about me too," Talarico said. "Seeing him walk down the hall — compared to the person I met in March — it’s incredible."

Yang said he has had patients return for visits before, but Leach's visit was "special because there are two [people] at once. It’s a reunion."

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