Runner returns to thank Moore County EMS

Lynn Collyar addressed Metro Council to thank those who helped save his life after collapsing during the OBH

12:31 p.m. May 19, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Lynn Collyar came to Monday night’s Metro Council meeting with sore ribs, a grateful heart, and a message that Moore County’s first responders do not always get to hear in person.

Their work mattered.

Collyar, of Owens Cross Roads, Ala., suffered a medical emergency during the Oak Barrel Half Marathon on Saturday, April 4, when he went into ventricular fibrillation – a dangerous heart rhythm – and cardiac arrest less than a mile into the race. More than six weeks later, on Monday, May 18, he stood before the Metro Council to thank the people who helped keep him alive.

The appearance turned routine public comment into a reminder of how quickly a community emergency can unfold – and how much depends on bystanders, law enforcement, EMS, and hospital care working together.

Public Safety Director Jason Deal introduced Collyar during public comment and tied the moment to National EMS Week, which recognizes emergency medical services across the country. This year’s theme, Deal said, is “Improving Outcomes Together.”

“That theme is more than a slogan,” Deal told the council. “It is a reminder that every life saved is a result of the chain.”

Deal recognized Hunter Case, Dwayne Clark, Kris Gagnon, Savanna Morton, and Ronnie Smith, the Moore County EMS personnel who responded that day. The EMS members received service coins for their efforts as Collyar helped recognize the team publicly. Deal also credited the lay rescuers and law enforcement personnel who were close by when Collyar collapsed.

The response, he said, included dispatchers, first responders, EMS crews, hospital partners, and a community willing to invest in the people who answer calls on someone else’s worst day.

“Tonight, that chain has a face,” Deal said.

Collyar told council members he was “very happy” and “very, very lucky” to be there.

“I had cardiac arrest not even a mile into the run,” he said. “The doctor said it was inevitable. It was going to happen at some point in time.”

The timing was terrifying. The location may have saved him.

Collyar said help was within seconds of him when he went down. They started CPR almost immediately.

“They said they heard the ribs break on the third compression,” Collyar told the room. “That means they were doing it right.”

It is a hard detail, but an important one. Collyar said the early CPR did not restart his heart, but it kept him alive long enough for Moore County EMS to reach him.

Those first minutes showed why CPR training matters long before an ambulance arrives.

Collyar said he collapsed about 50 yards from where EMS personnel were staged. The EMS crew loaded him into the ambulance, used a defibrillator, restored his heart rhythm and breathing, and turned him over to the helicopter crew for transport.

After he was flown out, Collyar said, doctors at Huntsville Hospital cleared a blockage and inserted a stent. He is recovering – sore, understandably – but alive.

“It’s a good news story,” he said. “It makes you feel good that people who didn’t know me from anybody else had the skill sets and the professionalism to stop and help.”

Collyar said some of those who helped him later told him it was the first time they had performed that kind of emergency care outside a hospital setting. They worried whether they had done enough.

Monday night, Collyar gave them their answer.

“They were all capable and professional,” he said. “The team you had here, you’re in great shape. They were on target, had the right tools, had the right equipment, and were very professional about how they did it.”

For EMS crews, Deal said, moments like that are rare. First responders often do the work, hand a patient off, and never know the rest of the story.

Collyar wanted them to know.

He said two nurses later told him they did not think he had much of a chance. Instead, he stood before the council, his wife nearby, and was able to thank the people who gave him that chance.

“I did 35 years in the military, and it’s important for people to know when they did good work,” Collyar said. “Everything they did was worthwhile to me and to my wife.”

Council members thanked Collyar for coming and thanked him for his military service. Collyar added that his wife also served 30 years.

“We figured 65 was enough,” he said, drawing a light moment from a room that had just heard a life-and-death story.

For Moore County, the moment put a human face on the public-safety system that residents often only notice when something goes wrong.

The Oak Barrel Half Marathon brings runners and visitors through Lynchburg each spring. For most, the story ends at the finish line.

For Collyar, it nearly ended before the first mile marker.

Instead, he left with a second chance – and came back to thank the people who helped give it to him.