Lakeville Fire Chief Michael O’Brien is recovering at home after open-heart surgery for life-threatening coronary artery disease that he says produced no warning symptoms and that was found only because firefighters who treated him for an unrelated emergency refused to stop.
In a statement on social media, O’Brien stated he had struggled with how much of his medical situation to share. He decided to do so for three reasons: to thank the people who saved his life, to explain his absence as a public official, and to warn other firefighters about a threat he says is not discussed enough.
“I had no chest pain. No shortness of breath. No warning that I was walking around with serious coronary artery disease.”
O’Brien said that it all began with a medical emergency at his home that had nothing to do with his heart. Lakeville firefighters responded and treated him for a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction. After that crisis was under control, he said, they continued their assessment, noted findings that concerned them, and recommended further evaluation.
“Their attention to detail may have saved my life a second time.”
Those findings led to more testing that ultimately revealed significant, life-threatening coronary artery disease. O’Brien then underwent open-heart surgery under cardiac surgeon Dr. Claire Faltermeier and her team. He credited their skill with giving him the chance to come home and start recovery.
During his absence, the department has asked retired Fire Chief Jeff Lynch to assist. O’Brien said that, as a public official, his ability to do the job affects the Lakeville Fire Department and the community, and that people understandably have questions about his leave.
O’Brien issued the statement as warning to those in the fire service. Citing the U.S. Fire Administration, he said sudden cardiac events remain the leading cause of firefighter line-of-duty deaths, accounting for nearly 45 percent of fatalities in recent years.
Firefighters share ordinary cardiovascular risk factors, he wrote, but the job adds extreme physical exertion, heat stress, smoke and particulate exposure, disrupted sleep, adrenaline surges, and repeated physical and emotional stress. He said the service trains extensively for cancer, maydays, collapse, hazardous materials, and apparatus accidents, and needs to treat heart disease with the same seriousness.
His advice to other firefighters: get a physical, know your numbers, make sure the doctor understands the job and its risks, and discuss whether extra screening is appropriate. “Don’t assume that because you feel good, you’re good,” he wrote. If one firefighter books an appointment, asks another question, or catches a problem before it becomes an emergency, he said, sharing something this personal will have been worth it.
After more than three decades in emergency services, O’Brien said the hardest shift was becoming the patient. For a time he depended on other people for virtually every need. Care at Charlton Memorial Hospital, he noted, changed how he sees nursing.
He said the nurses did more than give medications, watch vital signs, change dressings, and carry out orders. They explained things, noticed discomfort without being told, used humor at the right moment, and treated him as a person rather than a diagnosis or a room number. “I will remember how you made me feel,” he wrote. “I will remember the grace that was shared with me.”
He thanked the Lakeville firefighters who came to his home; Finley; Drs. Jeha and Faltermeier and the surgical team; hospital nurses and staff; and family, friends, coworkers, fellow firefighters, and town officials who called, brought food, checked on his family, or covered department work. He said there are too many people to name in one statement and that he intends to thank many of them individually.
O’Brien said his job now is to recover, follow medical advice, and allow time to heal. He said he is already looking forward to returning to the Lakeville Fire Department and to the community that supported him and his family.
“For more than three decades, I have been fortunate enough to have a career centered around helping other people on some of the worst days of their lives,” he wrote. “This time, I was the one who needed help. I will never forget the people who were there.”
