Mark Donihe, out for a walk at Roanoke's Fishburn Park on Monday, suddenly collapsed after suffering a heart attack on a trail parallel to Brambleton Avenue.
Another walker stopped to help and called 911. Two couples, coincidentally friends of Donihe, were driving by and pulled over to help with efforts to revive him until rescuers arrived.
Donihe, 47, died Wednesday at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. The charismatic father of three school-age children, a youth sports supporter and active member of Raleigh Court United Methodist Church probably never met a stranger ? as evidenced by the response in the park Monday.
Mitch Wheeler, owner of Wheeler's Fast Service Laundry and Cleaning, said his was the first vehicle to stop at Fishburn Park.
"We were coming past Shenandoah Life and I said, 'Daggone, somebody is laid out over there,'" Wheeler recounted Thursday.
It was Donihe, lying face down, but Wheeler did not initially recognize his friend from church.
"I rolled him over and thought that he looked like my buddy," Wheeler said.
Wheeler said he was not certain the man was Donihe until a bit of color returned to his face.
Wheeler and his wife, Julie, were returning from a trip to a hardware store on the observed New Year's holiday when they stopped to help. Wheeler had encountered a full parking lot at the store and decided to return home, which put him at Fishburn Park shortly after Donihe collapsed.
"Several people said it was the hand of God," Wheeler said. "I don't know if it was the hand of God or not."
Wheeler said he spent much of the next two days at the hospital hoping his church friend and neighbor would recover. An ambulance took Donihe there, but he never regained consciousness, according to Lynn Donihe, his wife. Mark Donihe was treated with induced hypothermia, a technique successfully used to revive a runner who collapsed near the finish line of the Blue Ridge Marathon in April. Medical staff slowly warmed Donihe to promote healing, but his blood pressure dropped, his wife said. A CAT scan revealed no brain activity, she said.
Donihe leaves behind Lynn, his wife of 22 years, and their children: Mollie, 17, a senior at Patrick Henry High School; Hill, 15, a Patrick Henry sophomore; and Reid, 9, a fourth-grader at Highland Park Elementary School.
Donihe's full-time job was working as a HVAC engineer for Trane, but he devoted his time and efforts to his children, his church and the community.
Lee Coleman said on Thursday he had known Donihe for about a decade because their sons played together in youth recreation and travel leagues.
"He always had a smile on his face," Coleman recalled. "And he did so many things for so many charities."
Coleman said Donihe called him every three to four weeks, asking him to support charity events, such as a golf tournament to benefit the Interfaith Hospitality Network.
"He would call me for a hundred dollars for this or that," Coleman said. "He called so often that I just sponsored it without asking what the money was for."
About 100 people showed up for a candlelight prayer vigil on Tuesday evening at the Raleigh Court church. Smoldering candles set off the smoke alarms in the hallway following the service.
The attendees "laughed and said Mark would have found it very funny," the Rev. Milton Marks said. "I went along with it and said I always wanted a church on fire for God but never had one."
Donihe had been selected this year to serve as the church's lay leader, which Marks said is the equivalent of the minister's right-hand person.
Lynn Donihe said she spent much of Thursday printing condolence messages from Facebook to share with her children ? until the printer ran out of ink.
"It's been really overwhelming," Lynn Donihe said. "I knew how many people thought Mark was a great guy ... But I didn't know it was like this. And I honestly didn't know it was that deep."
Staff writer Beth Macy contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/303179
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