PLACES IN THE HEART: BYPASS PATIENT MAKES TRIUMPHANT RETURN

The first time Douglas Orchard visited Cape Girardeau, he anchored his yacht on the swollen Mississippi River, climbed a ladder over the gated floodwall and accepted a ride to Southeast Missouri Hospital from a stranger.

He was 70 years old, 4,200 miles from home and having a heart attack.

But that was seven years and five continents ago. Orchard, a resident of Worthing, England, returned to the hospital Friday to thank the surgeon who saved his life.

His recovery went so well that jovial thrill-seeker Orchard, now 76, and wife Laura completed their goal of sailing around the world and plan trips to Cyprus in May and Nepal in October.

"I am still the cream of Britain's manhood," Orchard said, giving Dr. Darryl Ramsey a hearty handshake.

Ramsey, the thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon who performed Orchard's quadruple bypass, seemed unfazed by Orchard's progress. He smiled, leaned back in his chair and talked heart medication with his former patient.

"It's not unusual for people to go back to whatever they were doing before the surgery," he said. "But it is unusual to have a patient who sails around the world."

Unplanned visit to Cape

Orchard, a retired military and commercial pilot and World War II veteran, was sailing down the Mississippi in October 1994 on his 41-foot yacht, the Ocean Gypsy. He and his wife, Laura, were making a typical detour on their leisurely around-the-world trip.

Orchard was unaware he had a heart problem until chest pains hit as he sailed south from a Cape Girardeau dock. His wife turned the boat around while he radioed for help.

Dock worker Charles Brown responded and took the Orchards to Southeast. A week later, doctors took veins from Orchard's leg to bypass clogged arteries to his heart. He recovered at the Cape Girardeau home of a Scotland native and retired nurse, Erica McBride.

"I felt terribly weak. Bless these two ladies," he said, gesturing to his wife and McBride. "I could not have coped without them."

He was nearly back to normal in two months. But his physical problems gave way to financial ones when his insurance company refused to cover Southeast's bill of about $40,000. England's socialized medical care system doesn't cover problems outside the country, and Orchard's insurer argued he should have paid a higher premium to cover major surgery.

Community offers help

The local media publicized the Orchards' plight, and the community rallied around its guests. Laura Orchard, 67, said locals visited, called and wrote to express their sympathy.

"People would stop me at the shopping mall and say, Did you get your insurance sorted out?'" she said.

They did, eventually, although Southeast officials assured them the hospital was most concerned with Orchard's health and would work with him on paying the bill.

A company moved the yacht overland to North Carolina in early 1995 while the Orchards returned to England for recovery time.

They completed their trip around the world in 1997, 10 years after they started, finishing the last leg with a Royal Air Force Yachting Club tour. Stops included Panama, Australia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

During his travels, Orchard removed a boa constrictor from his boat, was arrested in the Middle East for flying an unfriendly flag and took down a sail during a raging storm.

His heart pounded steadily through it all.

The Orchards are staying with McBride, 72, this week and will leave for home Tuesday. They call the nurse their "fairy godmother." The effervescent McBride, clearly pleased to have her friends in her home again, refuses to take any credit.

And while Orchard claims his yachting days are about over, the world traveler plans to visit Cape Girardeau again someday.

"Cape Girardeau is not the place you visit because you have a great view of the mountains," he said. "You come back for all the wonderful people.

"The people here are more friendly than anywhere else in the world."

SIGNS OF A HEART ATTACK

The American Heart Association says these are the most common warning signs of a heart attack:

* Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes.

* Pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arms.

* Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath.

WHAT TO DO

If you see or have any of these symptoms, immediately call 9-1-1. Not all these signs occur in every attack. Sometimes they go away and return. If some occur, get help fast. Treatment is more effective when given quickly.

WANT INFORMATION?

Go to www.americanheart.org, a site provided by the American Heart Association.