On his first big trip to the African continent in the 1960s, Ralph Mackey climbed one of the world’s most famous peaks, 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro.
After his latest expedition to Africa, Mackey returned home to climb a personal mountain recovering from at least two strokes while on a photographic safari in Botswana.
The former Snohomish County Republican Party chairman was in the middle of a two-week safari July 2 when he had trouble lifting his leg over the seat of a Land Rover. He had suffered a mild stroke and was airlifted out of the bush to the Milpark Trauma Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.
During his hospital stay, Mackey, 74, suffered another stroke that paralyzed his right side. He remained there for weeks waiting for his blood pressure to stabilize so he could fly home to Everett.
Now he’s undergoing intensive therapy and is making progress, said his wife, Linda Mackey.
At first, he had difficulty coordinating his thought patterns with his speech, but that’s improving, as he demonstrated in an interview this week where his smile and wit shined through.
He’s regaining use of his right hand, and therapy is helping him learn to walk again.
Progress is slow, Linda Mackey said. “He’s able to do something new every day better. He’s made a lot of progress in the last month.”
He arrived home early this month and is undergoing physical, occupational and speech therapy at Providence Everett Medical Center’s Pacific Campus.
“It’s just a matter of time getting the strength back in the leg,” said Ralph Mackey, who is grateful for the medical care he got in Africa and here upon his return.
A longtime Everett resident, he has had a distinguished career.
He was owner of Washington Stove Works in Everett until selling it in 1982. He served as GOP chairman in the early 1970s, and later worked for Democratic County Executive Willis Tucker as a wetlands coordinator. One of his accomplishments was helping preserve a chunk of Spencer Island in the Snohomish River Delta. He also worked as a lobbyist for the County Council and served as Everett Senior Center director for 91/2 years until his position was eliminated in March.
One of his proudest moments came in the early 1980s when he and now Snohomish County PUD General Manager Ed Hansen led a fight to keep Everett in the 2nd Congressional District. A redistricting scheme would have removed the city from that political boundary.
When he was younger, Ralph Mackey climbed the highest mountains on five of the seven continents, including Kilimanjaro.
Although people in Johannesburg were caring, being a stranger in a strange land was unsettling. It was a relief to arrive home.
“We’ve been blessed really,” Linda Mackey said.
As for her husband, he may not have washed his hands of Africa. After all, the stroke shortchanged him on a visit to a national park and Victoria Falls.
“Yeah,” he said, “I want to go back.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
Michael O’Leary / The Herald
Ralph Mackey, a former county Republican Party leader, is back in Everett recovering from two strokes he suffered on a summer photo safari in Africa.
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