By TOM LOEWY
Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus
DAVENPORT, Iowa — Five words hang on a wall inside the University of Iowa AirCare hangar at the Davenport Municipal Airport.
“Today’s Flight is Someone’s Tomorrow.”
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’s 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 “just awesome.”
‘He has to go now’
Owen and Justin were pouring concrete for a new warehouse in rural Clinton on the morning of Dec. 3, 2025.
“It was a normal thing, nothing too heavy,” Justin said. “I 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.
“Just before I jumped down, the concrete truck driver was screaming at me. He was saying ‘Hey, he needs an ambulance.’ So I ran over and asked my dad where his nitro was.”
The 68-year-old Owen has had a number of heart attacks and he knew the symptoms.
“I was having chest pains and my jaw hurt,” Owen said. “And my arm hurt. I told my son to call the ambulance.”
Justin dialed 911 and struggled to tell the operator where the job site was.
“We were kind of in the middle of nowhere,” Justin said. “My 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.
“I got a little ways toward town, and the ambulance came. It was obvious something was going on. I told the ambulance crew ‘He has to go now’ and I help get him out of the truck and onto the gurney and helped get the gurney in the ambulance.”
Owen said he doesn’t remember much of what happened after that.
‘I did everything I could’
Not long after Owen and Justin made it to the MercyOne emergency room in Clinton, Rory Meyer was in the hospital.
“We have been through all this before, so I assumed that we would get through it and everything would be fine,” Rory said. “But we found out pretty quickly that Owen’s cardiac arrest was way worse than anything he had before.
“And 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.”
Shirer and Harrington, Rory said, showed up and turned out to be “angels.”
“Owen Meyer was having cardiac arrest and needed a higher level of care when we got there,” Shirer said of that day in December. “We could not get him stabilized, and so we used a new device called the autopulse, which wraps around the patient and does compressions.”
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’s “heart rate up.”
“He looked blue in the face and he was in a lot of pain,” Harrington said. “We had to use the autopulse the entire flight.”
Shirer said the AirCare team called MercyOne Genesis East and told them to be ready.
“We were only in the air 15 minutes, but we were able to work together,” Shirer said. “Owen 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.”
Rory said she arrived at the Davenport hospital not long after the helicopter.
“Owen coded four times and I was there with him, talking to him and encouraging him,” Rory said. “They would get his heart going and then he would code. After the fourth time, they shocked him.
“It was a team of 12 keeping him alive.”
Harrington said after the ordeal, Rory found her and Shirer and hugged them.
“I told her ‘I did everything I could’ and she just hugged me,” Harrington said.
“And I told her ‘I know you did. It’s in God’s hands.’ They were our angels that day,” Rory said.
‘Prayer. And fast driving’
Owen said he couldn’t wait to meet Shirer and Harrington. The reunion included hugs and plenty of smiles.
“I don’t remember anything, really,” he said. “Certainly not after being in the first ambulance.
“It’s nice to get a chance to say my thanks and tell them how much I appreciate them and how thankful I am.”
Shirer and Harrington said they were excited to see how a patient is recovering.
“We don’t get much of a chance to see the people who we transport,” Shirer said. “It’s nice to see that Owen is doing well. It was great to see him again and in these circumstances.”
Rory said she is thankful for all the efforts to save her husband of 13 years. She said the day went by in a “blur” and she was afraid she didn’t get to thank everyone who helped.
She paused only a moment when asked what she remembered most from Dec. 3, 2025
“Prayer,” she said. “And fast driving.”
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