“He’s just an all around good guy and he does a lot for other people,” said insurance agent Cindy Moffitt, one of Dydak’s close friends whose office is located in the same building as Dydak’s real estate office. “We just want to get his family and friends and the community together for him and let him know that many people really care.”
Gary Dydak has always been the friendly neighborhood realtor in Bridesburg. He’s known around town for being active in the community — specifically helping with the Boys and Girls Club, and also the Bridesburg Tree Lighting.
“He’s just an all around good guy and he does a lot for other people,” said insurance agent Cindy Moffitt, one of Dydak’s close friends whose office is located in the same building as Dydak’s real estate office. “We just want to get his family and friends and the community together for him and let him know that many people really care.”
It’s important to let Dydak know people really care because, on Jan. 29, his life changed forever.
“Gary underwent what was supposed to be a routine colonoscopy because he was having some stomach issues,” Moffitt explained. “It went completely wrong.”
At the colonoscopy, Moffitt explained, Dydak “aspirated all the contents from his intestines into his perfectly healthy lungs.”
Moffitt said that Dydak briefly passed, and had to be revived. After about 3.5 hours of “getting him stable,” Moffitt said, he was medevaced to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in West Philly, where he was put on dialysis and life support.
“We can’t say enough about the staff at Penn Presbyterian,” Moffitt said. “Between them and modern technology he wouldn’t be alive.”
With the help of Penn doctors, Moffitt said, Dydak, who has a wife and two daughters, is believed to eventually regain “some semblance of normalcy” in life. However, it is highly likely he’ll remain handicapped for the rest of his life.
“He’s had quite a road,” Moffitt said, who noted he’s had complications from some of the treatments he’s undergone. The complications, unfortunately, required the amputation of all his toes.
“He’s got some physical handicaps he’s going to have to overcome,” she said. “Fortunately his brain and his head are completely intact.”
To support Dydak, Moffitt is one of several organizers of a Beef and Beer, which will also serve as a fundraiser to offset some of Dydak’s expensive medical costs.
“I think this is going to be a wonderful event,” said Dydak’s long-time friend Lisa Jones, who is helping to organize the event. “Obviously he’s been through a lot. He’s a miracle is what he is. It was very touch and go, but he pulled through.”
A flier for the event refers to Dydak as a “happy go lucky, energetic, strong, Polish, husband, father, son, brother, uncle, friend, realtor, fellow hunter [and] everyday Santa Claus.”
The event will be held Saturday, Sept. 15, from 7 to 11 p.m. at Polonia Hall at 4431 Belgrade St. in Bridesburg. The event will include roast beef, baked ziti, salads, sweets, beer, wine and soda. A cash bar will be available.
“It could be you, it could be me,” Moffitt said of Dydak’s tragedy. “Gary was a very active, healthy 49-year-old real estate agent who runs around Bridesburg one day, and in the next he was flat out in a coma and unresponsive in every way.”
Currently, Dydak is at a nursing/rehab facility in Abbington where he’s re-learning how to sit up, stand and put weight on his feet.
Some of Dydak’s medical costs stem from special shoes that will have to be made for him now that he’s missing his toes. They alone cost more than $2,000 a pair, Moffitt said. She also noted he is capable of having full conversations. For the past several weeks, Dydak’s diet, Moffitt said, had mostly consisted of “Lay’s chips and water ice,” but he’s now just beginning to eat a more diverse array of food.
Moffitt is simply thankful Dydak is still alive. The situation could have been worse.
“It’s nothing short of a miracle,” she said. “We’re all anxious for him to come home, but it’s going to take a little bit more time.”
“Gary’s still got a long road ahead of him,” said Jones. “It’s not an ending thing. He’s still got a ways to go.”
For more information about the Beef and Beer fundraiser, contact Moffitt at 215–205–9291. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door.
