Marc Orchant needs your thoughts & prayers…

Graeme Thickins with Marc Orchant

You know how you meet someone and the connection is so strong that you feel like you’ve been their friend always? That’s how I feel about Marc Orchant and was absolutely stunned to learn that he just had a massive coronary Sunday morning.

Marc is one of the good guys. I can count on one hand friends of mine who I quietly am in awe of as I admire their brainpower, their interview and writing skills as well as their intuitive grasp of markets and technologies. That’s Marc in spades.

In this photo taken at the most recent Etech conference in San Diego, Marc is on the right along with my friend and Minnesota blogger, Graeme Thickins (another guy in the same connection status with me as Marc, by the way).

Another of Marc’s friends and colleagues, Oliver Starr, thankfully posted about it and asked for others to please repost which I’ve done after the jump (and have posted it in its entirety).

I love you man….get better and I’ll stay alerted to your progress. Best wishes to Sue and your family and now for certain we’ll have to connect up you, me and our brides when we collide in some miscellaneous city again!

At some time between 7:30 and 8:10 AM on Sunday Morning December 2nd, 2007, Marc Orchant, my fellow author on this blog, as well as one of my closest friends sustained a massive heart attack while working in his home office. At this time Marc is in critical condition at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Critical Cardiac Care Unit, Bed 3.  He is not expected to regain consciousness for the next 24 to 48 hours.

I was notified by Marc’s wife, Sue and asked to help notify Marc’s colleagues, friends and other business associates. Marc was scheduled to go to Seattle, WA as well as Ojai, CA this coming week. Obviously he will not be able to attend either event. Those of you that have association with either of Marc’s scheduled appearances at these locations, please notify those that require notice of this turn of events.

According to Sue Orchant, Marc was up early Sunday morning as is his normal custom. Sue told me that he was working in his office from about 7:30 AM until 8:10 when Sue says she heard a strange noise in Marc’s office. When she went to investigate she saw that Marc was not sitting in front of the computer like he normally does and was slumped over between his desk and a small couch that is in the room.

Initially, Sue said, she though he was leaning over doing something to their Golder Retriever but then she realized that he was not conscious. Fortunately, Sue has basic medical knowledge and after verifying that Marc was not choking and had a clear airway she began to perform CPR while their son, Jason, called paramedics.

The ambulance arrived in less than 10 minutes and technicians immediately took over performing CPR and administered treatment with a cardiac defibrillator. Marc was rushed into emergency open heart surgery where an angioplasty was performed to restore circulation in the blocked artery.

Sue went on to tell me that in spite of Marc’s apparent good health, he has a severe occlusion in both his other arteries and they too will require treatment soon. That, however is a secondary concern as is the condition of Marc’s heart muscle. The primary concern and the question that cannot be answered until Marc regains consciousness is the nature or extent of any neurological damage as a result of insufficient oxygen reaching Marc’s brain.

While Marc still had what appeared to be normal color when Sue found him she is uncertain as to the exact time that Marc suffered the infarction. It is also unknown if Marc had stopped breathing or been without oxygen for any length of time prior to her discovery of the situation.

Currently Marc’s immediate family as well as his brothers and parents are in or on their way to Albuquerque to be with Marc. Sue has asked me to keep Marc’s colleagues and friends in the technology community updated as information becomes available. Please do not contact Sue for updates. I will publish any information that I have in multiple venues to keep people informed of any changes in Marc’s condition.

For those of you that wish to send flowers, cards, or other gifts, Marc is at: Presbyterian Hospital Cardiac Care Unit Bed #3 1100 Central Ave SE Albuquerque, NM 87106 and the hospital switchboard number is 505-841-1234.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Marc and his family in this difficult time. Marc is one of the finest human beings that I have ever had the good fortune to know and I pray that Marc makes a full and speedy recovery.