Craig Cunningham lies in his hospital bed at Banner-University Medical Center on Monday night facing an uncertain future, staring up at the fire alarm high above his bed.
He nods toward it.
鈥淭he only thing I remember from being sick was that fire alarm right there,鈥 says the 26-year-old 蜜柚直播 Roadrunners team captain, hooked to a heart monitor, wires tangled in every direction. 鈥淚 thought it was a spaceship or something.鈥
He is surrounded by family and friends. Cunningham is quiet but attentive. Beeps break up the silence.
Cunningham says he is thankful for their presence and, in his words, 鈥渆xtremely lucky that I鈥檓 still here today.鈥
The next step in this arduous journey 鈥 which began back on Nov. 19, when Cunningham suffered a heart attack just before the opening faceoff of a matchup with the visiting Manitoba Moose 鈥 is expected to happen this week. Barring setbacks, Cunningham will be released from UMC to a local rehabilitation center.
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As they have for a month, his teammates and even a few opposing players have stopped by, all just hoping to catch a glimpse of the guy they call 鈥淐raiger.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 been tough, man,鈥 Cunningham told the Star in his first interview since collapsing on the 蜜柚直播 Arena ice. 鈥淚鈥檓 just trying to take it day-by-day. I don鈥檛 really know what鈥檚 next or what鈥檚 in my future, but I鈥檓 extremely happy to be alive.鈥
And so is the doctor who helped save him.
鈥楬e鈥檚 not going to make it鈥
Dr. Zain Khalpey got the phone call right about 7:45 p.m. on that Saturday night.
Roughly 45 minutes earlier, Cunningham 鈥 the first-year Roadrunners鈥 effervescent leader 鈥 had dropped to the ice from what can now be called cardiac arrest. He was quickly attended to by team trainers, medics and even a group of local firefighters who were on the ice performing the national anthem as part of a Scottish bagpipe and drum band.
Khalpey, from Great Britain, Ivy League-educated and considered a top cardiothoracic surgeon, remembers thinking that it was strange to know there was an ice rink in the desert. On the other end of the line was Dr. George Haloftis, a physician at St. Mary鈥檚 Hospital, where Cunningham was taken for emergency resuscitative procedures.
Haloftis, working at St. Mary鈥檚 with cardiologist and Khalpey鈥檚 friend Dr. Reza Movahed, told him that Cunningham was not responding to increasing dosages of Epinephrine and Levophed, and that more extreme measures were needed. Khalpey told Haloftis he was on his way to UMC to rally his team for an emergency surgery using a device called an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, or ECMO .
Driving on East Grant Road toward North Campbell Avenue approaching UMC, Khalpey got another phone call.
鈥淲hen I got to the fork in the road on Grant, I got a call from George saying, 鈥榋ain, he鈥檚 not going to make it,鈥欌 Khalpey said.
Khalpey pulled over and got the full synopsis of Cunningham鈥檚 condition: He was now bleeding from his lungs, and on a ventilator.
At this point, he鈥檇 had roughly 70 minutes of aggressive CPR, or what Khalpey calls 鈥渆ffective CPR,鈥 not just 鈥渟taying-alive CPR.鈥
鈥淭he thing that turned me was when George said to me, 鈥榋ain, I鈥檝e got 40 hockey players looking at me,鈥 Khalpey said. 鈥淎nd his mom. You鈥檝e got to come.鈥
Khalpey called Matt McReynolds, his perfusionist 鈥 the person who runs the heart-lung machine 鈥 and told him to gear up. He ducked over to UMC, sprinted inside to the intensive care unit and snagged a handful of cannulas 鈥 tubes inserted into the groin to drain blood, which is then directed into a pump to simulate the heart鈥檚 function 鈥 because St. Mary鈥檚 would not have them. The rest of Khalpey鈥檚 team, which includes nurses and a mobile emergency bed unit, would have to meet them at St Mary鈥檚.
Khalpey and McReynolds grabbed the ECMO machine, tossed it in the back of McReynolds鈥 car and raced to the hospital.
鈥淕eorge was on the phone with us the whole time 鈥 he鈥檚 such a sweet guy 鈥 and he opened the gates, and it was like a red carpet. They were so humbled somebody came, because now it鈥檚 been 85 minutes of CPR,鈥 Khalpey said.
It鈥檚 one thing to hold Cunningham鈥檚 heart quite literally in his hands 鈥 it鈥檚 a whole other thing to actually carry in the equipment that will be used to save his life, as Khalpey and McReynolds did upon exiting the car.
Khalpey and McReynolds got a quick debriefing and scrubbed in. Now came the hard part.
鈥淢att calmly took the device out, got the cannulas prepped, got everything sterile, but before we did that I had to talk to his mom, and told her what I had to do, with these 40 guys sitting there,鈥 Khalpey said. 鈥淪he was very stoic, had amazing composure, and I had to tell her about her son and how sick he was. I don鈥檛 think anybody had told her the depth of how sick he was, and that this would be going to make him live or not.鈥
鈥業 watched my son die鈥
Standing outside her baby boy鈥檚 hospital room, Heather Cunningham shook, her voice quivering, but her reserves steeled.
She was in town from Trail, British Columbia, visiting the night of Cunnigham鈥檚 heart attack. She watched him fall to the ice.
鈥淚 watched my son die right in front of my eyes,鈥 she said, her voice cracking. 鈥淭here was not a doubt in my mind. I thought he was gone. From the minute he hit the ice I could tell there was something not right. The waiting was awful. It was the worst. The doctors coming, going, not coming back. Every time they enter the room, you鈥檙e like, 鈥業s he still here or he didn鈥檛 make it?鈥 It was horrifying.鈥
Heather credits Khalpey with displaying not just a professional, but a personal manner, in relaying the last-ditch effort that was about to ensue.
鈥淚 talked to her as I would鈥檝e talked to any of my students, with complete transparency, as quickly and as simply as possible,鈥 Khalpey said. 鈥淭o convey that there is at least hope, that I can get him stable. I knew that. I saw what his vessels were like, that he鈥檚 an athlete, he鈥檚 got a good anatomy. I told his mom what I would tell my mom if I needed to do something. I needed to be positive, and having the realistic chances of getting him stable, I think she knew there was not a chance of me failing, because I would not fail.
鈥淲e were going to do this.鈥
鈥楾his is amazing鈥
For 85 minutes, they beat Craig Cunningham鈥檚 heart to a bloody pulp. And right around then, 40 minutes after he鈥檇 first gotten the call that would save Cunningham鈥檚 life, Khalpey felt confident.
Cunningham鈥檚 blood pressure was up, he was off sedation, moving and responding. Khalpey said it kicked into 鈥渟alvage mode.鈥 They鈥檇 need to be aggressive.
The procedure is remarkably complex, yet simple in its explanation: Cunningham鈥檚 heart was still in ventricular fibrillation, and because his lungs were bleeding, his blood was getting little oxygen. The blood in his heart at that point, Khalpey said, was black. Khalpey needed to circumvent the body鈥檚 natural blood pumping, using the ECMO machine to act as a temporary heart and lung, with the cannulas draining the side of Cunningham鈥檚 heart, the blood passing through a pump which pushed it into an artificial lung, which moved it back through the heart鈥檚 arterial side with fully oxygenated blood.
As they were doing the arterial side, Khalpey said, Cunningham crashed and CPR was needed once more. The medication increased even further. After 20 minutes, he said, everything was sewn up and secured.
Cunningham soon moved his legs.
鈥淎nd then he squeezed my hand, and I was like 鈥榊es, yes,鈥 鈥 Khalpey said, his voice turning into a whisper as he leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and pumping his fist. 鈥淐an you ... believe this? This is amazing.鈥
Cunningham was not out of the woods, nowhere even close, but he was stable, and in that moment, they all needed a win.
鈥淚 had to give his mom some semblance of one step had been done, just one thing which would allow her to breathe a little,鈥 Khalpey said.
Cunningham would require numerous surgeries over the coming days and weeks, including a procedure on Tuesday.
The biggest scare came roughly a day-and-a-half after the original incident: Cunningham鈥檚 heart was still enlarged and needed decompression, and the circulation to his legs had been cut off.
Khalpey proposed a new technique, using the ECMO machine once more, that has only been used three other times, ever: All by Khalpey, all within the prior two weeks, most recently to a priest who just happened to have the room next to Cunningham.
So, he figured, they鈥檝e got a little extra help on their side.
鈥淚 told his mom, 鈥業 have to do this, do you trust me?鈥 He鈥檇 be the third person to have this done in the world,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd she said, 鈥楧o it.鈥欌
Khalpey grabs a plastic model heart on his desk and shows what he did next.
鈥淚 made a small incision on the left side of his chest, made a hole in his heart at the apex, took the cannula and shoved it through his heart where it sucked blood to decompress from both the left and the right side. I took his lungs out of the equation. His heart was mashed up, black and blue, and the reason I did this was I knew I could get a faster result, a better result. I had to put stitches in to make sure it was safe. But I knew I could preserve his heart.鈥
To that point, Cunningham had displayed little-to-zero heart function.
After that, it went from zero to 45 percent.
What鈥檚 it like, to save a man like that?
鈥淗umbling,鈥 Khalpey said. 鈥淎nd a privilege. 鈥 You can鈥檛 really compare it to anything. The acuity of that 鈥 it鈥檚 better than getting a goal. It鈥檚 better than winning a cup, whether it鈥檚 Stanley or other. It was internally mesmerizing. And it was like thank God, and not for me, but for his mom, and the kids who were out there.鈥
And now?
鈥淭he long-term prognosis is that his heart function is working really well,鈥 Khalpey said. 鈥淲ill he be able to move around on the ice?鈥
That question remains unanswered. It鈥檚 not the only one. How could this even happen to a healthy, 26-year-old professional athlete in the first place?
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the million-dollar question,鈥 Khalpey said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still trying to find out. It could be multiple causes.鈥
Khalpey lists a few: A predisposition to abnormal pathways, or abnormal electrolytes, if Cunningham鈥檚 potassium was too high.
鈥淎nd sudden death is another thing,鈥 Khalpey said. 鈥淏ut he doesn鈥檛 have the pathology for that.鈥
Sudden death is a hockey term.
Until, suddenly, it鈥檚 not.
Humbled by support
Laying in a hospital bed, weak from a month鈥檚 worth of trauma but strong enough to talk, Cunningham talks about the future like it鈥檚 an open landscape.
鈥淲hen I woke up, I had to readjust a lot of things in my life,鈥 he said. 鈥淎ll I鈥檝e ever known was how to be a hockey player, and it鈥檚 all I ever really wanted to do. Now that I know that I鈥檒l most likely never play again, I鈥檓 not sure what the next door is for me.鈥
First is what he expects to be one of at least two stints in rehab as he works toward his first goal, which is simply to regain independence.
Second is figure out the next step in a life that was supposed to include the NHL. He鈥檚 maintained his jovial attitude, cracking jokes and sounding upbeat. His girlfriend has been glued to his side, as have his teammates. He says it is hard to watch Roadrunners games, but he basks in the presence of his teammates when they pop in, and even the opponents, when they drop in as well.
鈥淚t just shows the hockey world is such a small world,鈥 he said.
He is humbled by the support he鈥檚 received from the community. Schoolchildren wrote him get-well cards. Roadrunners fans signed banners at games.
Cunningham is especially thankful for the medical attention he received, both in the arena and out.
鈥淭o be honest, every single doctor and nurse I鈥檝e dealt with so far has been very personable as well as very professional, and it makes a big difference,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t makes you feel a lot better about yourself, especially going through tough times.鈥
And these are indeed tough times.
鈥淭he biggest thing is, it鈥檚 scary,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey still don鈥檛 know what caused it. I鈥檓 a young 26-year-old, I鈥檓 healthy, I鈥檓 in good shape, and I鈥檝e never had any heart complications before. The scariest thing is every night before I go to bed, I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檓 going to wake up in the morning.鈥
He鈥檚 not the only one who has trouble sleeping.
鈥淚 go to bed every night trying to figure out what went wrong. If I went wrong?鈥 Cunningham鈥檚 mom said. 鈥淚 have no idea what went wrong. You can鈥檛 fix what you don鈥檛 know. I have two other sons, and I鈥檓 worried sick now. You put your kids in sports because you think it鈥檚 healthy, and it鈥檚 good for them and it鈥檚 going to do well, and it kinda backfired in a way on me. It鈥檚 the hardest thing to understand, something there鈥檚 no answer to.鈥
For now, they鈥檒l continue to seek answers. Until then, there鈥檚 always hope.
鈥淣ow that I鈥檝e seen him come back and be as strong as he鈥檚 been, I know that he鈥檒l be in the NHL, maybe not as a hockey player,鈥 Heather said. 鈥淏ut he will find a way to get there. I know that. That鈥檚 one thing I can say without a tear, without a shake in my voice. Craiger will make it some way, somehow.鈥
