Fundraiser to help woman struck down by sudden heart attack

WASILLA — Kelly Tatum still isn’t quite sure how or why she almost died.

“I had cardiac arrest on Jan. 29,” she said.

As for the why — Tatum said doctors aren’t actually sure yet. They put a pacemaker in her in case it happens again. She’s going in for genetic testing. Her brother died in a similar way.

As for the how — it happened at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center during a soccer game and she doesn’t remember any of it. Her boyfriend, Wade Schachle, does. He was there.

“I play goalie,” Schachle said. “The ball went to the other end of the field and she was laying face-down on the turf.”

Everyone else was looking the other way. Schachle was the first to see something was wrong. He ran over to her and started CPR. Also running to Tatum’s aid was Sarah Nielsen, an Advanced Nurse Practitioner at Alaska Heart Institute and a friend of Tatum’s.

“She was down for the count,” Nielsen said.

To succumb to sudden cardiac arrest with a heart-specializing nurse practitioner nearby is certainly lucky. Also lucky is a lot of the people on the field were EMTs. EMT Nate Bair came over to lend a hand. So did the opposing goalie, retired EMT Ken Slauson, who had a device with him to help monitor her pulse and oxygen levels.

“I picked the right people to die around,” Tatum said.

Nielsen agreed.

“I think it’s totally a God thing that you collapsed where you did with the people around you,” she said.

Someone on the sidelines called 911. Not an hour later and after a $20,000 helicopter flight to Anchorage, Tatum was at Providence Alaska Medical Center.

That helicopter flight is just one item on a long list of expensive things Tatum went through before she regained consciousness. She wasn’t insured at the time. She’s got Medicaid now, but it doesn’t cover nearly everything.

Her mother, Wendy, is holding a fundraiser to help defray Tatum’s medical costs. It includes a sit-down dinner, live music and a soccer tournament. They’re calling it the “Alive and Kicking Fundraiser” and, appropriately enough, it’s booked on the turf at the Menard.

In the helicopter on the way to Anchorage, medics chilled Tatum down as much as they could. Lower body temperatures, Nielsen said, means less damage to her brain cells. That Tatum is able to function normally considering how long she wasn’t breathing is “an awesome success story for that kind of protocol.”

Schachle said it was touch-and-go even after they arrived at the hospital.

“They lost her one time at the hospital,” he said. “At one point the doctor said she had about a 30 percent chance of making it through the night.”

But she did pull through, even if she did look like a pincushion on the other side.

“Any vein they could find they were shoving something in it,” Schachle said.

Tatum said she has to laugh when the medical bills arrive. Not because she doesn’t realize how serious they are. It’s just so far outside the realm of possibility that she could ever pay them herself.

Also not cheap are those genetic tests, but they’re important. Tatum has kids of her own and she needs to know if this thing is hereditary.

The kids are fascinated by her pacemaker.

“They call it mommy’s box. ‘Mommy, is your box on this side?’” she said.

Schachle said they almost didn’t go to the game that night. They’d had a busy day.

“I was just like, ‘Let’s just not go,’” he recalled.

But Tatum insisted. A wesbite dedicated to the fundraiser says she’s been playing soccer all her life. She’s not playing anymore, but still goes to the games.

“I always hug Sarah and Nate and Ken,” she said about her rescuers. “And I’m not a hugger.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.

What: Alive and Kicking Fundraiser to benefit Kelly Tatum.

Where: Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center.

When: Dinner and silent auction April 6 at 7 p.m., concert at 8 p.m. 3-on-3 soccer tournament April 7.

Cost: $40 for prime rib and halibut dinner, $10 if you show up at 9 p.m. for the live music from Kevin Worrell. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Call Wendy at 376-4170.