David & Loretta Fluitt

On May 14, during his & Loretta’s visit w/ their son Dave, daughter-in-law Kelly, & their new granddaughter Finnley in California, David suffered a massive heart attack while surfing w/ little Dave at his favorite breaks. Thankfully, little Dave was able to perform CPR on him until the lifeguards & paramedics arrived. David was then transported to the nearest hospital where they attempted to stabilize him, during which time his heart stopped (coded) 12 times. While they were able to stabilize him, they confirmed that David had fully blocked left & right arteries & had had a full blown “widow maker” attack.

Once stabilized, he was put on ECMO to bypass the heart & lungs, & an Impella was installed to keep him stable. However, his heart & lungs were not strong enough to endure the surgery to clear/correct the blockages. As such,
due to the severity of his condition, he was transported to USC in LA the next day.

Since he was transported to USC, he has remained on ECMO (heart & lung bypass), a ventilator (breathing tube) & is still under heavy sedation to give his heart & lungs a chance to get stronger so they can eventually do surgery to correct the arterial blockages.

In the meantime, David has been able to adequately respond to verbal commands, & all tests have shown that he has not lost brain function, & that his other organs are functioning normally.

While there has been positive news & the doctors have expressed that he is getting stronger every day, this will be a very long road for them, as it is most likely that he will remain in the hospital for 3-6 months. This has been & will continue to be a very real & substantial hardship on David & Loretta financially. Therefore, I am asking you to lend your support (emotional & monetary) in any way you can. Anything you can do to lighten their load is greatly appreciated!