July 12th 2018 happened like any other day. I had no suspicions that from then on, my life would be completely changed. After watching some tv, I decided to head to bed. I knew I would have to wake up very early the next morning to take my 15 year old son to a swim meet. 

However, I didn’t wake up the next day.

At 11:45 pm, my wife noticed that I was breathing very heavily, as if I was gasping for air. All of the sudden, I collapsed on her. I had no pulse. She immediately knew something was very wrong and called my two children over. My son and my wife immediately began doing CPR and breaths on me, while my 19 year old daughter ran to call 911. My son had recently became a lifeguard at the local pool that summer, and had training on how to do CPR. 

The paramedics arrived around 10 minutes after the 911 call. They took me to the living room where they had to use the AED multiple times before they could bring back my pulse. During the ride to Riverside Methodist Hospital, I coded a few times. I was brought to the ER, where the doctors had to figure out what was happening to me. Did I have a pulmonary embolism, or did I have a massive heart attack? 

From the ER, they took me to the ICU, then to the Cath Lab, where they found that I had serious blockage in my arteries. I had a massive heart attack. The doctors had to put three stents into the blocked arteries surrounding my heart. Additionally, they had to use two Impellas on both sides of my heart to help it pump because my heart was so weak. I was very sick. 

I stayed one night in critical care, where a team of two nurses were constantly monitoring my status. The next day, they were able to remove both Impellas. I was slowly improving. They took me back to the ICU, where I finally woke up a couple days later. My family was there every single day during my hospitalization and my recovery. 

My last few days at the hospital were spent in the Cardiac Red floor. I had to work with the physical therapist to regain my strength and do simple things such as walking around the halls. A week after my heart attack, I was finally able to return to home. 

Without my son and my wife doing CPR and breaths on me, I probably wouldn’t be here today. They saved my life. Furthermore, I would like to thank the paramedics, the doctors and nurses at Riverside Methodist Hospital, the physical therapists for Cardiac Rehab at OSU’s Outpatient Care in Upper Arlington, and the cardiologists at the OSU Ross Heart Hospital and Ohio Health for my continued treatment and recovery. They have given me my second chance.

Moreover, as a cardiovascular researcher for 14 years and at age 48, you never think that you would ever have a heart attack, that you would have to carry around a card that says you have stents, or that you would have to take a regimen of medicine for the rest of your life. This heart attack is a condition that I have to live with for the rest of my life. However, I was given a second chance at life; a second chance to live life the best I can. Recovery is tough both physically and mentally, but it is now my second chance. I will cherish it with each step I make.