Heartfelt thanks for A Lifesaver

By Emily Richmond

Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005 | 7:43 a.m.

In his 34 years as a pilot for United Airlines, Guy Manning had his share of passengers fall ill. But there usually was a doctor on the flight who knew just what to do -- and only once did Manning have to make an emergency landing.

Then came a recent evening when Manning stood in a near-empty Las Vegas parking lot and saw a man having a heart attack. "Is there a doctor on board?" was not an option.

Michael Flanagan, a real estate broker from San Clemente, Calif., had been out for an evening run. Flanagan, 52, had completed marathons on every continent.

When he reached an office complex near Hughes Center Drive and Paradise Road, Flanagan slowed to a walk, cooling down before heading back to the apartment he keeps for his regular business trips to Las Vegas.

"One minute I'm thinking I'm in fabulous shape, the next minute there's an elephant sitting on my chest," said Flanagan, as he recalled the blast of pain that overwhelmed him the night of Nov. 9. "I was bent over double and I heard a voice asking me if I was OK. I said I was fine. I was in full denial."

The voice was Manning's, on his way to an office building for a meeting of day-trading enthusiasts.

Now retired from United, Manning had enough experience and first-aid training to know that Flanagan wasn't fine. The former pilot decided against waiting for an ambulance, a decision doctors later told him likely saved Flanagan's life.

His own truck was parked nearby. Manning guided Flanagan by the shoulders and helped him into the passenger seat.

"I went very cautiously through the red lights," Manning said of the roughly five-mile race to University Medical Center with Flanagan crumpled next to him.

"The closer we got to the hospital I could see he was fading. I kept talking to him saying, 'Stay with me, Mike.'

"For once I couldn't find a police car when I needed one."

Flanagan recalls little of the ride to UMC. He knows he and Manning exchanged first names. But he never lifted his chest from his thighs or managed to turn his head to see the face of his rescuer.

Manning used his cell phone to call 911 and alert the hospital that he was on his way.

During open heart surgery Flanagan underwent a triple bypass. Surgeons also discovered badly deteriorated valves, a hereditary disorder that would have eventually stopped even the fittest of marathoners.

"The doctors told me if we had waited for an ambulance I might have survived the ride, but I would have had irreparable heart damage," Flanagan said. "Instead I have a full heart, and I thank Guy from the bottom of it."

After leaving Flanagan at the emergency room, Manning was at a loss to learn his identity. He called the hospital several times to check on Flanagan's condition, but was unable to find out anything about the man he knew only as Mike.

Flanagan remained in the hospital for three weeks before being discharged. Then he began hunting for the fellow who saved his life. He knocked on doors in the office complex asking if anyone knew a guy named Guy. Finally, someone did.

Flanagan treated Manning to a holiday lunch Thursday -- at Carnegie Deli. (Roast beef sandwich, extra lean.)

Flanagan was dumbfounded to learn that Manning had been a pilot for United, flying primarily out of Los Angeles and later San Francisco. Flanagan has traveled to more than 100 countries and often flies United. It's likely some of those flights were piloted by Manning.

"I gotta say I'm glad I built up all that good karma with United," Flanagan said with a laugh.

As he regains his former strength, Flanagan's goal is to be ready for the Boston Marathon in 2007, a race he has twice run fast enough to qualify for and has twice completed.

And even his recent close call has yielded a silver lining of sorts. "I found out if you've had a triple bypass you don't have to qualify," Flanagan said. "I'm automatically in."

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or at [email protected].