Gilroy Police Chaplain and prominent local pastor Malcolm MacPhail, 55, of New Hope Community Church is recovering at a hospital in San Jose – the MacPhail family has requested the hospital not be named as they have been overwhelmed by well-wishers – after suffering a mild heart attack in the early hours of Monday morning.
MacPhail had been complaining of feeling unwell to his wife of 28 years, Kathy, in the hours leading up to her dialing 911, according to Tori Koppelmaa, an administrative office assistant with New Hope.
Youth Pastor Jared Stefani visited MacPhail in the hospital Monday.
“He was with his wife and daughter and he was in high spirits,” Stefani laughed.
MacPhail received a stent, or mesh tube commonly used on patients who have suffered a heart attack.
His first concern when he woke up?
“He said, ‘I’m supposed to be taking my family on vacation,’” grinned Stefani.
MacPhail suffered the heart attack in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. His son, Jeff, a local paramedic, wasn’t on duty Monday morning but arrived on scene and assisted in his father’s treatment. Jeff told Stefani that being a first responder for a chest pain case was a “whole different experience when it’s your father.”
The early morning health drama brought back bad memories for the family, according to Stefani. In 1994, MacPhail was diagnosed with leukemia and given two years to live. After searching for five years – beating the doctor’s prognosis by three – MacPhail found a partial match donor. A two-year battle to return to full health reached its nadir in 2000 when a severe allergic reaction to penicillin left MacPhail in a coma at Stanford Medical Center. Drifting in and out of consciousness, he was given a 2 percent chance of surviving. He woke up fully on Easter Sunday in 2000 and asked people had what happened.
“He’s a champ,” Stefani said.
MacPhail, who was released from the hospital at 4 p.m. Tuesday, wants to thank Engine No. 71 from the Gilroy Fire Department.
“They were phenomenal,” he said.
Stefani said doctors told MacPhail he’s “still clear to go to Aptos,” where the family had planned to vacation this week at a beach house.
