By TOM LOEWY
Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus
DAVENPORT, Iowa 鈥� Five words hang on a wall inside the University of Iowa AirCare hangar at the Davenport Municipal Airport.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 Flight is Someone鈥檚 Tomorrow.鈥�
Owen Meyer got a chance for some more tomorrows after he was carried by an AirCare helicopter from MercyOne Clinton Medical to MercyOne Genesis East in Davenport during a massive cardiac arrest.
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Owen returned to work just days after the Dec. 3, 2025, heart attack. He got a chance to see Christmas and the New Year.
On Tuesday, Owen鈥檚 latest tomorrow came when he and his family got a chance to meet the EMS technician and flight nurse who helped keep him alive during the helicopter ride.
Owen and his wife, Rory, travelled from Sabula, Iowa, and, joined by his sons Josh and Justin Meyer, gathered with EMS technician Chris Shirer and flight nurse Ashley Harrington in the hangar.
Owen said the reunion was 鈥渏ust awesome.鈥�
鈥楬e has to go now鈥�
Owen and Justin were pouring concrete for a new warehouse in rural Clinton on the morning of Dec. 3, 2025.
鈥淚t was a normal thing, nothing too heavy,鈥� Justin said. 鈥淚 was going down into the pit where we were putting the concrete and my dad was over at the truck, and he was getting ready to carry the buckets over to me.
鈥淛ust before I jumped down, the concrete truck driver was screaming at me. He was saying 鈥楬ey, he needs an ambulance.鈥� So I ran over and asked my dad where his nitro was.鈥�
The 68-year-old Owen has had a number of heart attacks and he knew the symptoms.
鈥淚 was having chest pains and my jaw hurt,鈥� Owen said. 鈥淎nd my arm hurt. I told my son to call the ambulance.鈥�
Justin dialed 911 and struggled to tell the operator where the job site was.
鈥淲e were kind of in the middle of nowhere,鈥� Justin said. 鈥淢y dad had managed to get in his truck and I told them that I was going to drive into Clinton and we could just meet.
鈥淚 got a little ways toward town, and the ambulance came. It was obvious something was going on. I told the ambulance crew 鈥楬e has to go now鈥� and I help get him out of the truck and onto the gurney and helped get the gurney in the ambulance.鈥�
Owen said he doesn鈥檛 remember much of what happened after that.
鈥業 did everything I could鈥�
Not long after Owen and Justin made it to the MercyOne emergency room in Clinton, Rory Meyer was in the hospital.
鈥淲e have been through all this before, so I assumed that we would get through it and everything would be fine,鈥� Rory said. 鈥淏ut we found out pretty quickly that Owen鈥檚 cardiac arrest was way worse than anything he had before.
鈥淎nd the doctors in Clinton said he had to be transferred to Genesis East. And then they said there was a helicopter coming to get him.鈥�
Shirer and Harrington, Rory said, showed up and turned out to be 鈥渁ngels.鈥�
鈥淥wen Meyer was having cardiac arrest and needed a higher level of care when we got there,鈥� Shirer said of that day in December. 鈥淲e could not get him stabilized, and so we used a new device called the autopulse, which wraps around the patient and does compressions.鈥�
Shirer, an EMS technician for 12 years and a flight veteran of three years, said that allows both the EMS technician and the flight nurse to have their hands free for care and discussion.
Harrington has been a flight nurse for six years. She said the biggest challenge during the flight was the effort to get Owen鈥檚 鈥渉eart rate up.鈥�
鈥淗e looked blue in the face and he was in a lot of pain,鈥� Harrington said. 鈥淲e had to use the autopulse the entire flight.鈥�
Shirer said the AirCare team called MercyOne Genesis East and told them to be ready.
鈥淲e were only in the air 15 minutes, but we were able to work together,鈥� Shirer said. 鈥淥wen was really deteriorating quickly. The team at Genesis East was incredible. They met us on the roof, had everything ready, and started fast on Owen.鈥�
Rory said she arrived at the Davenport hospital not long after the helicopter.
鈥淥wen coded four times and I was there with him, talking to him and encouraging him,鈥� Rory said. 鈥淭hey would get his heart going and then he would code. After the fourth time, they shocked him.
鈥淚t was a team of 12 keeping him alive.鈥�
Harrington said after the ordeal, Rory found her and Shirer and hugged them.
鈥淚 told her 鈥業 did everything I could鈥� and she just hugged me,鈥� Harrington said.
鈥淎nd I told her 鈥業 know you did. It鈥檚 in God鈥檚 hands.鈥� They were our angels that day,鈥� Rory said.
鈥楶rayer. And fast driving鈥�
Owen said he couldn鈥檛 wait to meet Shirer and Harrington. The reunion included hugs and plenty of smiles.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember anything, really,鈥� he said. 鈥淐ertainly not after being in the first ambulance.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to get a chance to say my thanks and tell them how much I appreciate them and how thankful I am.鈥�
Shirer and Harrington said they were excited to see how a patient is recovering.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 get much of a chance to see the people who we transport,鈥� Shirer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see that Owen is doing well. It was great to see him again and in these circumstances.鈥�
Rory said she is thankful for all the efforts to save her husband of 13 years. She said the day went by in a 鈥渂lur鈥� and she was afraid she didn鈥檛 get to thank everyone who helped.
She paused only a moment when asked what she remembered most from Dec. 3, 2025
鈥淧rayer,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd fast driving.鈥�
漏 2026 Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus, Ill.
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