HARLAN ― Tait Williams, 63, remembers next to nothing about his brush with death in the first hour of the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa in 2025.
But in the year since, he’s met or heard from many of the people who came to his aid when he collapsed after suffering a heart attack en route from Orange City to Milford on Day 1 of the ride.
Some witnesses reached out through a RAGBRAI Facebook group to tell Williams they stopped and prayed until an ambulance came. Some still call him once a week to check up on him, he said.
“Makes me kind of choke up a little bit. I’m not very emotional, but yeah, that’s pretty amazing,” said Williams, who divides his time between Texas and California.
Now back in Iowa for RAGBRAI 2026, Williams has made it a point to see and thank those who helped him last year. Perhaps most important of all is Iowa State Patrol Trooper Darren Flaherty, who used the automated external defibrillator he carries in his cruiser to revive Williams, whose heart had stopped. Williams was flown to a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hospital for quadruple bypass surgery.
The two were able to reconnect in an emotional moment at a riders meeting during the RAGBRAI Expo on Saturday, July 18. Then, on Sunday, the first day of the ride, Williams stopped to see Flaherty as he was directing traffic at the intersection of Highway 59 and F32, just north of Harlan.
Flaherty, 43, had used the defibrillator at RAGBRAI before. But he said Williams’ heart attack was one he’d never forget.
“After seeing him lying on the ground, lifeless, you put those pads on him and take him to the ambulance, you just never know what’s going to happen after that,” Flaherty said. “To see him standing upright, shaking my hand, giving me a hug, it’s pretty amazing.”
Williams said he’s been active all his life and has participated in bike rides around the country, including one in the mid-1980s, when he was part of a group that cycled from Long Beach, California, through Iowa and on to the East Coast.
He’s had many bike-related injuries, too, he said. “And every single time I’ve had some kind of injury, I got better when I really pushed myself.”
And so he is back on the Iowa ride, just a year after his harrowing experience.
“I wasn’t afraid because I knew he would be here with his defib,” he added jokingly, pointing at Flaherty. “So, if I had another heart attack, I’d be just fine.”
Williams, who learned that his heart attack was linked to hereditary factors, now has a pacemaker and internal defibrillator. He encourages others who are at risk of heart attacks to get themselves checked. He said he’s also grateful to the nurses and doctors on the ride, including three from the U.S. Air Force who performed CPR before Flaherty arrived.
Kristi Johnson, an emergency room nurse at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines, was among those who helped Williams in 2025, keeping his neck still and airway open while he was tended to.
In cases like Williams’, successful lifesaving measures are rare, Johnson said. Outside of a hospital, the ventricular fibrillation arrest, or v-fib, he suffered has around a 30% survival rate, she said.
Johnson said Williams’ case is proof that CPR training can save lives.
“Just basic CPR that the public can learn, that’s all we did,” she said. “And that’s what saved Tait.”
After connecting via Facebook after the incident, Johnson said, she and Williams have stayed in touch over the past year. He sent her photos of himself recovering at the hospital after surgery and with his family and grandchildren. Johnson intends to catch up with Williams this week on RAGBRAI.
“I’m so happy he’s alive. And I know that this sounds strange, but I think that what I will feel is just love for him,” she said. “I really feel like he’s my friend.”
So, how was Williams’ first day back on RAGBRAI, as temperatures pushed into the 90s and riders labored through the steep Loess Hills?
“Once I got past the first hour, I’m golden,” he said, laughing.
Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines and Polk County government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: RAGBRAI rider thanks Iowa State Patrol trooper who saved his life
Reporting by Virginia Barreda, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Virginia Barreda, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
