By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
A Landis fire battalion commander remained in critical condition at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center on Monday after suffering a heart attack during a Department of Corrections training exercise.
David Sells, a fugitive officer for the Corrections Department, suffered the heart attack while training bloodhounds to track fugitives in Davie County about noon on Friday.
Sells, 47, worked with bloodhounds for more than 25 years. He worked at the Landis Fire Department for more than 20 years and has also worked with the Kannapolis Fire Department.
According to Sells’ brother-in-law, Bill Hamrick, Sells began to feel unwell during the training in an area off U.S. 801.
Hamrick said Sells could not walk more than a few steps and 911 was notified, sending EMS to their location. EMS called for a helicopter to take Sells to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center after recognizing Sells’ symptoms as those of a major heart attack.
But Hamrick said once the air transport was about three minutes from the hospital, Sells went into cardiac arrest, forcing EMS to start CPR.
Hamrick, who said he has worked in EMS for more than 25 years, said helicopters will usually not carry victims suffering from cardiac arrest because of turbulence. Sells was then taken by ambulance to Wake Forest.
“He’s passed the 72-hour mark, which is terrific,” Hamrick said.
Hamrick said there has been a steady support group at the hospital since the incident.
“There’s been a tremendous outpouring by agencies,” Hamrick said. “He’s been very active in the community.”
Sells lives in Landis and has two children from a former marriage and two stepchildren.
The Sells family has hit a few rough patches.
Sells’ wife, Katie, was diagnosed in 2009 with breast cancer. In February of this year, Sells’ father died. In a story in the Salisbury Post in 2009, Katie Sells said of her husband’s support through her chemotherapy, “He’s been my rock.”
Hamrick said the recent difficulties the family has faced have made Sells heart attack even harder.
“It’s added another step to the intensity,” Hamrick said.