This was what has come in here as of about 12M:
Former KXOK Production Director and WHB Program Director Richard Ward Fatherley suffered what has been described as both a heart attack and a stroke and was taken to KU Medical Center, where he remains in intensive care in critical condition.
Dave MacFarland writes:
I was called last night by Dick Fatherley's young son Richard, who could not hold back tears as he talked. Dick collapsed sometime either late Sunday or on Monday--I'm not clear on this. Medical assistance was slow in coming, and they did not start CPR right away. It appears he was not breathing for 20 minutes. He was unresponsive and convulsing. They took him to the KU Medical Center ICU, where they found that "his left artery was 95% clogged. They had to open arteries to get anything flowing." They cooled his body to prevent brain swelling, and put him on a defibrillator. He is unconscious. He cannot breathe on his own. As of last night, they were not seeing any brain activity. KU Med says he has only a 15% chance of recovery.
Update from Dr. MacFarland:
I spoke to Cathy Fatherley, Dick's wife, at about 9 p.m. Tuesday night. Dick is surviving on a ventilator. But there was one piece of good news today: When doctors shined a light in his eyes, they dilated as they are supposed to. So his brain is not dead. Whether he could ever function normally again is a question to be answered farther down the road. For now, there is that one hopeful sign.
Cathy Fatherley earnestly asked for your prayers.
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