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On a D.C. sidewalk, a race to save a Marine general's life [View all]
Last edited Fri May 10, 2024, 09:32 AM - Edit history (1)
On a D.C. sidewalk, a race to save a Marine general’s life
Gen. Eric M. Smith collapsed in cardiac arrest while out for a run. This is the remarkable, previously untold story of how he survived.
By Dan Lamothe
May 10, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
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https://wapo.st/3QEg8Y4
Timothy LaLonde, left, and his sister Joyce LaLonde pose for a portrait after they were recognized by Gen. Eric M. Smith at a small ceremony at Marine Barracks Washington on Thursday. The pair and others came to the rescue of Smith, the commandant of the Marine Corps, last year after he collapsed with cardiac arrest during a run. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
Gen. Eric M. Smith stepped out on a warm, late-afternoon run last fall, pounding the pavement of Southeast Washington on a routine three-mile loop. As the top U.S. Marine, he had spent the morning cheering on participants in the annual Marine Corps Marathon, and wanted to squeeze in his own workout before taking his wife out to dinner. ... It was Oct. 29. A few blocks away, Timothy and Joyce LaLonde concluded a celebratory post-race lunch and began the walk back to Joyce’s nearby home. The siblings, accompanied by several family members, were shaken by what they encountered: A man facedown on the sidewalk — alone, unresponsive and bleeding from his mouth. ... “Tim, come!” Joyce LaLonde recalled yelling to her brother. “Hurry!”
The ensuing scramble saved the life of the Marine Corps commandant, a father of two who had stepped into his new role on the Joint Chiefs of Staff just three months earlier. Smith, who turns 59 in June, suffered cardiac arrest at the tail end of his run, just a block from his home at Marine Barracks Washington — a crisis in which the speed and quality of medical intervention proved vital.
For the first time, those directly connected to Smith’s rescue have publicly detailed how he survived, a fortuitous succession of events resulting in an improbable return to the Pentagon after barely four months of recovery. This account is based on hours of interviews with the general and eight others, including Smith’s surgeon and the paramedics who administered several electrical shocks to stabilize his heart. ... What began with Joyce LaLonde spotting the general sprawled on the concrete and her brother, a certified CPR instructor, rendering aid ended, all agreed, with the best possible outcome.
“If you were to have this scenario play out 1,000 times, maybe five people … would survive it like he did,” said Smith’s cardiac surgeon, Thomas MacGillivray. “It’s an unusual thing that somebody gets CPR for that long and not just survives it, but is back to normal life within a couple of few months.” Impossible, he added, without everyone having provided the care they did.
{snip}
Marine Corps Gen. Eric M. Smith poses for a portrait at his residence at Marine Barracks Washington on Thursday, after a ceremony in which he recognized the three people who came to his rescue. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
{snip}
Joyce LaLonde, left, and her brother Timothy, far right, in Washington with other family members after they completed the 48th Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Va., on Oct. 29, 2023. Shortly after this photo was taken, Timothy and Joyce found Gen. Eric M. Smith lying unresponsive on the ground. (LaLonde family)
{snip}
Joyce LaLonde embraces Patrisha Smith, in red, the wife of Gen. Eric M. Smith, left, as Gen. Smith recognizes Joyce and others during the ceremony Thursday. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
{snip}
Gen. Eric M. Smith, left, applauds Timothy LaLonde. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
{snip}
Share
https://wapo.st/3QEg8Y4
By Dan Lamothe
Dan Lamothe joined The Washington Post in 2014 to cover the U.S. military. He has written about the Armed Forces for more than 15 years, traveling extensively, embedding with five branches of service and covering combat in Afghanistan. Twitter https://twitter.com/danlamothe
Gen. Eric M. Smith collapsed in cardiac arrest while out for a run. This is the remarkable, previously untold story of how he survived.
By Dan Lamothe
May 10, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Share
https://wapo.st/3QEg8Y4
Timothy LaLonde, left, and his sister Joyce LaLonde pose for a portrait after they were recognized by Gen. Eric M. Smith at a small ceremony at Marine Barracks Washington on Thursday. The pair and others came to the rescue of Smith, the commandant of the Marine Corps, last year after he collapsed with cardiac arrest during a run. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
Gen. Eric M. Smith stepped out on a warm, late-afternoon run last fall, pounding the pavement of Southeast Washington on a routine three-mile loop. As the top U.S. Marine, he had spent the morning cheering on participants in the annual Marine Corps Marathon, and wanted to squeeze in his own workout before taking his wife out to dinner. ... It was Oct. 29. A few blocks away, Timothy and Joyce LaLonde concluded a celebratory post-race lunch and began the walk back to Joyce’s nearby home. The siblings, accompanied by several family members, were shaken by what they encountered: A man facedown on the sidewalk — alone, unresponsive and bleeding from his mouth. ... “Tim, come!” Joyce LaLonde recalled yelling to her brother. “Hurry!”
The ensuing scramble saved the life of the Marine Corps commandant, a father of two who had stepped into his new role on the Joint Chiefs of Staff just three months earlier. Smith, who turns 59 in June, suffered cardiac arrest at the tail end of his run, just a block from his home at Marine Barracks Washington — a crisis in which the speed and quality of medical intervention proved vital.
For the first time, those directly connected to Smith’s rescue have publicly detailed how he survived, a fortuitous succession of events resulting in an improbable return to the Pentagon after barely four months of recovery. This account is based on hours of interviews with the general and eight others, including Smith’s surgeon and the paramedics who administered several electrical shocks to stabilize his heart. ... What began with Joyce LaLonde spotting the general sprawled on the concrete and her brother, a certified CPR instructor, rendering aid ended, all agreed, with the best possible outcome.
“If you were to have this scenario play out 1,000 times, maybe five people … would survive it like he did,” said Smith’s cardiac surgeon, Thomas MacGillivray. “It’s an unusual thing that somebody gets CPR for that long and not just survives it, but is back to normal life within a couple of few months.” Impossible, he added, without everyone having provided the care they did.
{snip}
Marine Corps Gen. Eric M. Smith poses for a portrait at his residence at Marine Barracks Washington on Thursday, after a ceremony in which he recognized the three people who came to his rescue. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
{snip}
Joyce LaLonde, left, and her brother Timothy, far right, in Washington with other family members after they completed the 48th Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Va., on Oct. 29, 2023. Shortly after this photo was taken, Timothy and Joyce found Gen. Eric M. Smith lying unresponsive on the ground. (LaLonde family)
{snip}
Joyce LaLonde embraces Patrisha Smith, in red, the wife of Gen. Eric M. Smith, left, as Gen. Smith recognizes Joyce and others during the ceremony Thursday. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
{snip}
Gen. Eric M. Smith, left, applauds Timothy LaLonde. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
{snip}
Share
https://wapo.st/3QEg8Y4
By Dan Lamothe
Dan Lamothe joined The Washington Post in 2014 to cover the U.S. military. He has written about the Armed Forces for more than 15 years, traveling extensively, embedding with five branches of service and covering combat in Afghanistan. Twitter https://twitter.com/danlamothe
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