By Jane Keller Gordon, Contributing Writer
Photo/Jane Keller Gordon
Southborough – Dave (Mac) McLaughlin, 49, knew that he could not go back to carpentry after his June 2014 liver transplant. To the benefit of many, he has traded two-by-four boards for hickory wood chips, which he uses in his smoker at Mac’s Wraps, located in a food trailer next to Lamy’s Insurance Agency at 5 East Main St. in Southborough.
The rebound in McLaughlin’s health is evident in his long workdays. Mac’s Wraps is open from 11a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except Sunday and Monday.
Growing up the youngest of five kids in Southborough, McLaughlin said that he learned to cook out of necessity.
“My parents both worked and if I wanted to eat before they got home, I had to cook,” he said.
Until June 2014, he only cooked for himself and friends, and did the physically demanding work of a carpenter, specializing in additions, remodels, kitchens, baths, and decks.
McLaughlin said that back then, he drank too much alcohol, and it was affecting his health. He was losing weight, and his friends were concerned. He said that he hadn’t seen a doctor at that point in about a year.
He stopped drinking at the beginning of 2014, but it was too late.
McLaughlin was admitted to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester in June 2014 with what he called an intra-abdominal stomach infection. It turned out that he was much sicker: he had cirrhosis of the liver.
He was then put on a liver transplant list, and within two days he underwent surgery that lasted almost 15 hours long. Without the new liver, he said, he would have died.
His recovery was an ordeal.
“My doctor told me that in a year I’d feel better than I ever have in my life.” But at that time, he said, “I thought that I was in hell.”
After a month at UMass, McLaughlin was transferred to the now-closed Kindred Hospital Northeast-Natick.
“I was bedridden, and down to 128 pounds. Before I had weighed about 220 pounds,” he recalled.
When McLaughlin went home in October 2014, he could only walk about 10 feet with a walker. Visiting nurses, and his sister-in-law and brother, Mary and Mark McLaughlin, helped him slowly recover.
That month he started talking to his friend Chris Lamy, owner of Lamy’s Insurance Agency, about opening a diner type business. Lamy’s grandfather Clovis had owned a diner in Marlborough, according to McLaughlin.
In December 2014, McLaughlin bought a trailer that was advertised on Craigslist.
Eventually, he went before the Planning Board, and gained approval for his business.
In April 2015, Mac’s Wraps opened for business. McLaughlin says that he does a good business with the lunch crowd, and dinner is starting to build. He hopes to stay open through the winter.
McLaughlin recommends his pulled pork sandwich served on a steamed tortilla with cheese, rice, or coleslaw. He offers other delicious sandwiches, sides, and homemade soups. Menus are posted daily on Mac’s Wraps Facebook page.
When asked about his health situation, McLaughlin commented, “I don’t want to preach to anyone about drinking. That’s not my style. But I would like to encourage people to donate their organs. It’s a waste if they don’t. It’s a miracle that I’m here.”
He continued, “My doctor was right, I’ve never felt better.”
