Priest celebrates Mass to thank those who saved his life
While he doesn't remember much from the day he almost died at University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, the Rev. Matthew Marshall is certain about a few things.
It was April 7, 2011, and he had called to wish his father a happy birthday before lunch. Just 23 years old and a seminary student at the time, Marshall was later working out on an exercise bicycle when we went into cardiac arrest and collapsed.
On Thursday, Marshall returned as a recently ordained priest to celebrate Catholic Mass at the chapel of Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, and thank the doctors, nurses, Mundelein paramedics and others who played a role in saving his life.
“I'm just very, very thankful to the Lord and to all of them (medical professionals) for their care,” said Marshall, who had a pre-existing heart condition he never knew about. “Everyone who is here is serving those who are in a really rough place in life. Because I know when I was so ill, that was really, really hard. It was, I think, the most challenging circumstances I've ever been in.”
Condell intensive care unit manager Raeann Fuller said she and a nurse promised Marshall they would attend his ordination if he pulled through — a pledge they kept in late June in LaCrosse, Wis. Fuller reflected on what it meant to see a vibrant Marshall at the hospital on Thursday.
“Kind of the same thing I was thinking in LaCrosse is how close we came to him not being able to touch so many lives,” Fuller said. “The fact that he's here, think of the lives he will touch and change because he's still here. And the perspective he has. Every time I look at him, that's kind of what I think.”
Mundelein Fire Chief Tim Sashko, who attended the Mass, said bystanders at the seminary gymnasium started CPR and used an automatic external defibrillator on Marshall before paramedics arrived. Sashko said the paramedics took over to shock Marshall's heart to revive him, then set up an electrocardiogram transmission that provided information to Condell's emergency room.
“Then there's a series of drugs that we use with that,” Sashko said. “We're still doing CPR. We're still doing airway management.”
Also at the Mass in dress uniform were two of the paramedics who helped to save Marshall's life, Steve D'Incognito and Edward Anderson. They said they were glad to see the priest in good health.
“Not a lot of times the outcome is like that, so it's good to see,” D'Incognito said.
Marshall, 26, who serves a parish in Wausau, Wis., dedicated the Mass in the 50-seat Nemmers Family Chapel to all who are sick. He concluded by saying the love and attention he received from health care professionals significantly changed how he views them and their work, then injected a little humor.
“Part of my heart, it's made of fat and doesn't work real good, but another part of my heart works better and remains here with you all,” he said. “A lot of thanksgiving and love for what you do.”