Gratitude Stories - Marc
From Collapse to Comeback: A Grateful Patient Shares His Story
It was August of 2024, and Marylanders, Marc and Cathy Barclay, were enjoying a weekend in Newport, Rhode Island. The couple was visiting “The City by the Sea” to attend a wedding shower with their future daughter-in-law’s family, who are from the Ocean State.
Early on the Sunday morning of their stay, Marc made his way downstairs – then fell to the floor. “My right leg just went out from under me,” he remembers. “It was numb and, for the life of me, I just couldn’t get up.”
Marc called out to Cathy for assistance. “He felt clammy when I reached out to him,” she recalls, “so I immediately thought maybe Marc was experiencing a cardiac issue.” It was quickly apparent to her that something was seriously wrong and that Marc needed medical attention. Cathy called 911 and an ambulance took him to nearby Newport Hospital.
The battery of tests administered there initially did not reveal any serious abnormalities. But when Marc’s ER doc ordered a CAT scan, a potentially lethal complication was unearthed: He had an ascending aortic aneurysm with complete dissection.
In simple terms, the inner layer of Marc’s aorta – the body’s largest artery, responsible for carrying blood from the heart to the rest of the body – had torn apart. Blood flow was being dangerously redirected, depriving vital organs and extremities of oxygen, thus explaining Marc’s inability to move his leg.
A Race Against Time
Without immediate intervention, Marc’s survival was unlikely. He was quickly transferred to Rhode Island Hospital to undergo emergency surgery. The clock was ticking.
“The risk of dying increases by two percent every hour surgical repair is delayed,” explains Mark Cunningham, MD, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery, Rhode Island Hospital. “The overall mortality for patients who experience this is about 70 percent. So, it’s a serious, life-threatening condition.”
Moreso, Marc’s case was especially complex. The dissection extended into the vessels supplying his brain, leaving him at risk of stroke. Blood flow to his right leg was totally compromised and his aorta – best described as fragile as tissue paper – could not be clamped safely. To operate, Dr. Cunningham employed one of the most advanced techniques in aortic surgery: deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA).
In DHCA, the patient’s body is cooled to very low temperatures – in Marc’s case, approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit – and the heart-lung machine is turned off. At these very low temperatures, the brain and vital organs can survive without blood flow, but only for a short time. Working quickly in this motionless, bloodless field, Dr. Cunningham replaced Marc’s damaged aorta with a synthetic Dacron graft and reconstructed his blood flow – to his brain, to his heart, to his leg – one vessel at a time.
“It was very complicated,” Dr. Cunningham explains. “We essentially rebuilt the blood supply to every critical organ the dissection had destroyed.”
The procedure lasted more than 15 hours, and a second surgery followed days later to fine tune the repair and close the chest. Marc would spend three weeks in the cardiothoracic intensive care unit, followed by a week in the step-down unit and then additional weeks of acute rehabilitation.
For much of that early time, he remembers nothing. “After my fall, I don’t remember much,” Marc admits. “Just waking up in the hospital three weeks later and asking Cathy, ‘What the heck happened?’”
“The HECK happened alright!” Cathy now recounts, with a wry, weary smile. “His discharge summary was a mile long.”
Attitude and Gratitude
One thing Marc does remember well was the goal that motivated him in his rehabilitation that continued once he returned home to Maryland in October of 2024. Marc and Cathy’s son, Alex, was getting married in December and he was determined to walk down the aisle – without relying on a cane.
“That gave him focus and purpose,” Cathy says, “and he put in the work every single day.” On December 7, 2024, Marc fulfilled that promise, proudly walking alongside his wife as Alex and his bride Abby were wed.
Today, Marc is back to work part‑time at Home Depot and enjoying his full, active life with Cathy and his children, which also include sons Aaron and Adam. His harrowing healthcare journey behind him, Marc is now focused on looking forward.
“Life is good,” he simply states.
The Barclays’ gratitude is deep and enduring. On the one‑year anniversary of Marc’s surgery, they held thank you video calls with Dr. Cunningham and the care team members who saved his life. This spring, they’re looking ahead to a joyful milestone: the arrival of their first grandchild, a baby boy.
Life is indeed good, thanks to the staff at Rhode Island Hospital!