ICU Nurses Reunite with “Miracle Man”
Popular Perkasie Deli Owner Gives Thanks
If you’ve ever driven through Perkasie and needed a quick stop for breakfast or lunch, odds are, you found the Arch Street Deli. It’s a local institution. The cheesesteaks are amazing. The conversation is invigorating. And owner Dave Myers is there to greet you with a smile.
But last September, Dave suddenly disappeared from behind the counter. And thousands of community members who adore the popular deli took notice.
Messages on the deli’s Facebook page discussed how Dave was going through some “health challenges.” The reality was a bit starker. Dave had a serious case of pneumonia, a raging infection, and
complications from congestive heart failure — all at once.
“Dave was one of the sickest patients we’ve seen here at Grand View Health,” says Crystal Grone, RN, Director of the Intensive Care Unit and Stepdown Unit (ICU/SDU), who was part of the team that cared for Dave. “He required around-the-clock care and constant monitoring.”
A lengthy stay
Dave ended up in the ICU for more than three weeks. As an expert care team helped him slowly recover, the community rallied around him, hosting fundraisers, making donations in-person at the deli, and helping to pay his bills. At the same time, the former owner of the Arch Street Deli stepped in to run things at the restaurant.
“I’m still kind of speechless about it,” Dave told the Bucks County Herald late last year. “It just blew me away how the community came together for me. It put a little extra step and energy on my rehab.”
After about a month, Dave was well enough to be transferred to a rehabilitation hospital. He returned home in early November. “We call Dave our ‘Miracle Man,’” says Jess Brushwood, RN, BSN, Unit Manager of ICU / SDU and a member of Dave’s care team.
A heartfelt reunion
In mid-February 2024 — six months after his health crisis — Dave returned to the Grand View Health ICU with a tray of hoagies to salute the team that saved his life. “I’ve been wanting to come back and say thank you for all that you did for me,” he told the nurses. “I don’t remember being here. I was so sick. But I know I would not be here if it wasn’t for you.”
“We don’t often get to see patients once they leave here,” Brushwood says. “But when you see someone come in who is that sick and watch them get back to health, it’s rewarding and inspiring. It’s why we do what we do.”
Learn about the Pavilion at Grand View Health. Visit GVH.org/Pavilion.