Blarney heart attack rescue was ‘pure miracle’, says US man returning to pay tribute to those who helped him

A US man who was airlifted to hospital after a narrow escape from death at the top of Blarney Castle is returning to Cork with a special gesture for the team that saved his life.

David Motte from North Carolina has written a book called The Gift Of Blarney, which pays tribute to everyone involved in his dramatic rescue. The ordeal saw him transported to CUH after a heart attack resulted in him collapsing on the battlement of Blarney Castle.

He revisited the scene in September 2018, five months after the incident, and finally kissed the Blarney Stone.

However, the father of three still had unfinished business, namely to acknowledge every member of the rescue team who saved him on that miraculous day almost five years ago.

They will be the first to receive copies of his book ahead of its publication date, in February of next year.

David had insisted on a Cork launch for his book, which is serving as the location for the reunion, in City Hall tomorrow.

He has flown to Cork for the event.

Charles and Caroline Colthurst of Blarney Castle Estate will also be in attendance.

They will be joined by Siobhan Hogan, also from the Blarney Castle Estate, who ran to David’s aid with a defibrillator.

Blarney Community first responders Jeremy Downey, Kate Durrant, and Deborah Lynch will also be present.

Ms Lynch is a cardiac nurse at CUH — where David was treated — in addition to her voluntary role.

Paramedic Ger O’Dea and his colleagues form the remainder of the rescue team, along with members of Coastguard 115, who are due to attend.

“There was a chief-of-police officer from Illinois who worked her way over to me after hearing the screams,” David told The Echo.

“There was a paramedic from France.

“They just happened to be on-site at the time. The way it happened was nothing short of miraculous.

“I had this desire to piece together what happened, since I had absolutely no memory of the event.

“It was my understanding that this was a pure miracle.

“How these people all came together to save me can only be described as an outpouring of humanity.”

The father of three puts much of his luck down to divine intervention.

“I had fallen backward, which meant my feet were up,” he said.

“My heart had completely stopped and I was taking agonal breaths — so was pretty much gone.

“I don’t think you can go through what I went through and not believe.

“I was out for 15 minutes, and I did pass over.

“As a result, my understanding and concept of death is very different now.

“I have no earthly memory of what happened to me, but I’m well aware of just how blessed I am and how miraculous the event was.

“Anyone who does their research will know that to be out that long without a heartbeat is almost unsurvivable. I’m very thankful and very blessed that I was able to come back to live another day.

“I owe an incredible debt to all these people.”

David said he has tried to string together memories of that day, with little success.

“When I woke up in hospital, I had some type of amnesia. My memory slowly started coming back to me.

“My long-term memory of my family and other things returned, but that 15 minutes — that whole period of time I was climbing the castle — never came back to me.

“To this day, I have no earthly memories of those moments.”

He described retracing his steps at Blarney Castle, months after the event, with bittersweet sentiment.

“As I started to look at the castle and the steepness of the steps we climbed up, I was overwhelmed and amazed,” he said.

“It was hard to believe that I could survive such an ordeal in that situation. To this day, it totally blows me away.”

Mr Motte reiterated his gratitude to Cork.

“I’m grateful to have one more chance to thank these incredible people. They will never know the depth of gratitude in my heart for what they did for me.”

The Gift of Blarney will be available on Amazon from February 2024.