From Blackrock to San Diego
“A nun gave me my last rights, she was holding my hand, she told me everything would be okay.”
Blackrock native Andrew Fitzgerald has a beautiful and well-earned outlook on life. Having survived 2 medically induced heart stoppages, life is now all about the little things for the golf and soccer enthusiast whose first book, ‘How did I Get Here? Traveling the Road to Resilience’, was launched yesterday.
Andrew, who has been living in San Diego with his wife for the past 11 years, maintains a pristine and uncompromised Cork accent, however, his 3 and a half year old son Alfie has developed what Andrew describes as a bit of a “Cork-American twang”.
One of the 4 key sections in his book talks about the heartbreak he and his wife experienced, enduring 4 miscarriages before their fifth pregnancy went full term and little Alfie was brought into the world.
“It's a tough topic to talk about,” says Andrew, whose main reason for writing the book was to be able to hand a copy to his son.
“That was a devastating time in our lives. It's the greatest news anyone can get that you're going to be a dad or a mum. It was awful, we didn't tell anyone about it, you know, we kept it to ourselves because we didn't want to worry anyone in Ireland.
“We stayed hopeful but what we did is we ended up throwing ourselves into our corporate jobs, which was good in one way, but probably wasn't the right thing to do. We should have talked about it.
“Fast forward to 2019 and Alfie was born and he's my hero. I absolutely love being a dad. Every day is a blessing. Even though he's born in America, there's definitely some Cork cuteness in him. He's just too clever for me sometimes.”
Andrew’s new book is all about life lessons and resilience and having faith in one’s own ability to succeed in a way that is true to them. It has not been an easy journey for Andrew. After a football match as a young man, he noticed something unusual with his heart and ended up being admitted to hospital.
“The first time it happened, I was playing for Avondale United against Cork City FC youth team out in Bishopstown. We were beaten 3-2 unfortunately. A couple of weeks before that Cork City had asked me to join them but being the loyal Blackrock man, I turned them down.
“I was completely fired up and after the game my heart was just beating nonstop. I went into the dressing room, got changed, went home, lay down for a couple of hours and my heart was still beating, beating, beating. I went to bed that night, still with my heart beating nonstop.
“I woke up the next morning and went to my local doctor who sent me to the Mercy. I went into the Mercy and my heart was beating at 200+ beats a minute. They determined that the only way to bring my heartbeat down and regulate it would be to stop my heart and start it again.
“The book opens with the scene of heading down the corridor and into the lift and being taken into the ICU, and a nun gave me the last rights. Next thing I know, the anaesthesiologist was giving me some gas and I closed my eyes and the next day I woke up, opened my eyes and I said, 'How did I get here?'”
The second time it happened, Andrew was playing golf and after taking a shot, felt the same rapid heartrate and dizziness as before. He was again brought to the Mercy and again his heart was stopped and started again.
This time the doctors were able to diagnose Andrew with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW), a condition present from birth that can cause the heart to beat abnormally fast. Andrew was sent for a procedure in Dublin which proved extremely successful and lives with a healthy heart, although he says psychologically, he was unable to return to football.
Another key aspect of the book is emigration and how to navigate the emotional and logistical challenges it brings. Andrew and his wife love to travel and fell in love with California during their first visit and soon after began thinking about moving there.
“We fell in love with San Diego of all places. It's vibrant, great culture, the weather obviously, the golf courses, and the overall American positivity and optimism. We went back to Ireland and we said, 'How can we make a move?' and we entered the green card lottery. It wasn't anything to do with any economic or social circumstances. For us it was about adventure and traveling.
“It took a long time to settle in. We missed home and we hadn't planned for that. My wife would say the same thing. We were too soft on each other; we should have given each other a kick in the butt. We moved back to Ireland again and there we were on the first Friday night, it's raining outside, it's dark, and we're watching ‘The Late Late Show’, and we were thinking, 'Huh, I wonder had we given ourselves the best chance in America, could we have been a bit tougher?'”
Shortly after, they set off again, more determined to forge their dream life together. The fourth theme of Andrew’s book focuses on career and overcoming and setbacks that might come, while remaining open and getting stuck in.
“My mother was a home baker in addition to raising the 4 of us. She used to make cakes and pastries and meringues. When I turned 9, I used to wrap all the cakes and putt homemade stickers on them and we would sell them to local supermarkets, and my father used to work in sales, so I always loved that aspect of things.”
Andrew’s first job out of college was working with Cadbury's as a merchandiser before moving on to Diageo Ireland. From there he moved to Heineken in Cork. When they went to San Diego for the second time, he got a job with Heineken there before moving on to launch a number of new products with various companies.
Asked what advice he would have for a young person about to begin college or take the first step into the corporate world, Andrew says: “Listen to hear, not to respond; trust is a must – you have to trust yourself and back yourself 100% no matter what you're doing; and dive in, the water’s great. Get stuck in and be open and always willing to learn,”
Andrew’s book ‘How did I Get Here? Traveling the Road to Resilience’ is out now and available from amazon.com.