MBTA Police Officer - Ret. Richard "Dic" Donohue Speaks to Rotary Club of Lexington's First Annual Visitors Day.

 
The Rotary Club of Lexington was thrilled to commence our (soon to be annual) Visitor’s Day on May 8, 2016. We had a total of 64 participants with 1 visiting Rotarian 37 guests and 26 Lexington Rotarians. PP Spencer Betts was instrumental in organizing the day and PP Bob Sacco made some beautiful posters to help lure in our guests.
 
Most dollars were very happy as we had just come off of a fabulous Friday evening with the annual Comedy Night. This year was a really nice night with great friends, good food and really funny comedians. Our current president not included…true story.  
 
Thanks were given to all the members of that committee who work tirelessly every year to pull it off. Thanks especially to PP Spencer, PP Dan Busa, Michelle G. and Alan A.
 
President Domenic started the presentation by trying to give our guests a sense of what Rotarians really do to help out in our community. He brought up the annual scholarship for local students, the donation of the billiard room to the community center, the BBQs and community garden given to the senior villages in town, Stop Hunger Now, Friends Forever and of course bringing an end to Polio.
 
We were really fortunate to have an amazing example of courage and resilience come to speak to our Club and our guests. Richard “Dick” Donahue was 33 years old and on duty as a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Officer when he got the radio call that an officer on the MIT Campus had been shot. This was just days after 2 bombs had been detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon killing three innocent people and wounding 250 more by assailants who were still at large. The city was tense as he raced to come to the aid of a fellow law enforcement brother. It was not until later that he found out it was his friend, MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, who had lost his life.
 
The radio rang out again and there had been shots fires on the corner of Dexter and Laurel streets in Watertown so Officer Donahue raced over to help. It was there that a full on gun battle ensued with Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who are now known as the Marathon Bombers. Tamerlan was shot and killed in the gun battle while his brother Dzhokhar ran and hid in a boat in a backyard of Watertown. He was later apprehended, convicted and sentenced to die for his crimes.
 
During the shootout, Officer Donahue was shot in the leg and the bullet hit his femoral vein and artery. This caused massive blood loss and luckily the other officers at the scene knew what to do. They tried to physically slow the bleeding and began CPR soon after they saw he was hit. They knew enough that he had to get in an ambulance and someone drove him in an ambulance with a flat tire to the closest hospital which was Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge.
 
Officer Donahue had lost over 90% of the blood in his body and was essentially dead upon arrival to hospital. He credits the Doctors, nurses and staff at Mount Auburn for saving his life. He never would have imagined beating the odds and staying alive would be the easy part and that true courage would be what he would need to survive afterwards.
 
He credits three things with his ability come through this tragedy; Preparation, Internal Preparation and Adaptability. He credits the preparation of the officers with him at the scene to know what to do and the years of training of all of the doctors and nurses who saved his life. He also was internally prepared because he had always made physical fitness an important part of his life. He is a walking miracle for having survived the massive blood loss and his doctors think part of it was because he was such a strong, fit guy to begin with. He also credits the college years that he spent at Virginia Military Institute. Getting through long, crazy days of military training and academics have helped him throughout his life to realize that he can pull through any challenge. And he credits the adaptability of the all of the police offers, hospital staff and himself to be able to get through these intense transitions.
 
Officer Donahue has made an almost full recovery which in itself is a miracle. He is has since retired from the Police force, which was not an easy decision to come to for him or his family. But he is making the most of his gift of life by sharing his story of hope and courage with groups like ours. We are so thankful for him coming and sharing his story with our Club and our guests.
 
Laurie Atwater won the 50-50 and donated it back to the club.
 
Meaghan Murphy
 
Guest speaker Richard "Dic" Donohue speaks to the crowd.
 
Seated (l to r) Dr. Barry Cunha, Fred Johnson, Sally O'Leary
"Dic" Donohue, Senator Ken Donnelly
Seated (l to r) Rotarian Jim Tarpey, Devin Tarpey, Town of Lexington Selectwoman Michelle Ciccolo, Ray Ciccolo.