An 83-year-old Spokane man who went into cardiac arrest during a comedy show was revived by audience members and later watched comedian Drew Lynch finish the set at his hospital bedside.
The incident occurred on Sept. 12 at the Spokane Comedy Club. Lynch had just begun his performance when he noticed a disturbance in the crowd, The Washington Post reported.
“Hey, everything OK?” he asked from the stage. Someone in the audience responded, “No.”
The man, identified as Dick Wende, had collapsed while attending the show with his son and daughter-in-law. According to his son, Nathan Wende, the father had congestive heart failure and high blood pressure but had never previously experienced cardiac arrest.
“They couldn’t even shock him because he didn’t have a shockable rhythm,” the son said. “They couldn’t get a pulse for five minutes.”
Several medical professionals in the audience, including an EMT and two emergency room nurses, began chest compressions while others called 911. The CPR continued until medics arrived.
“The CPR worked,” Nathan Wende said. “They jumped in and did their job. It is so important to know CPR.”
Lynch paused the performance until he was removed from the venue.
Spokane Fire Department crews transported the man to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was stabilized.
Lynch later resumed the set, telling the audience, “That was incredible. You guys all really just came together in a really cool way … you saved that guy’s life.”
The next day, Lynch decided to deliver Dick Wende’s walker, which had been left behind at the club, personally. Accompanied by his opening acts, Akeem Hoyte-Charles and Rachel Aflleje, Lynch visited the recovering man’s hospital room and spent more than two hours with him and his family.
“I was really excited. I didn’t realize he would do something like that,” Dick Wende said. “He’s a national personality. I was pretty pumped up.”
During the visit, Lynch joked with Dick Wende, signed his walker, and declared he was “finishing the show.”
The room, Dick Wende said, was soon filled with laughter.
“I think we had more laughter in that hospital than they’ve seen in a long, long time,” he said.
Dick Wende, a speech therapist for five decades, said he has followed Lynch since his 2015 appearance on “America’s Got Talent.” He said Lynch’s openness about living with a stutter resonated with him, having worked with many young people facing the same condition.
Lynch said the experience highlighted the power of collective action.
“No one hesitated, no one was filming. Everybody just understood what we needed to do. … No one knew each other but they all just came together for this shared goal,” he said.
Dick Wende expects to spend about two weeks in rehabilitation. He said he is grateful the medical emergency occurred in a crowded setting rather than when he was alone at home.
“The crowd came together, and it’s a testament to the people that care here in Spokane,” he said.
Lynch and Dick Wende have stayed in contact since the hospital visit. Dick Wende said the unexpected friendship has brought him joy.
“He will be a friend for the rest of my life,” he said.
Commenting on the lifesaving actions of the audience members in an interview with Inside Edition, Dick Wende added, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
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