Paul's Story
Ten minutes later the EMTs arrived and I was on my way to Mission Hospital. During the ambulance ride they determined I was having a heart attack. They gave me aspirin, nitroglycerin spray and IV fluids, as well as a hard time about my biking clothes! When we arrived at Mission, instead of going to the emergency room, they took me straight to the heart tower. The moment I came through the door, a timer was set and everyone got to work. Within one minute they'd put in a catheter, injected dye and started taking pictures to determine if any of my arteries were blocked. It turned out that my left anterior descending artery had a 100% blockage and they needed to put in a stent to reopen it. Just 17 minutes after my arrival, a stent was in place and my recovery had begun. I spent the next two days in a bed at Mission Hospital and the next several months participating in their Heart Path Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. The rehabilitation team at Heart Path gave me the guidance, encouragement and reassurance I needed to regain my confidence as a runner and cyclist. Thanks to the doctors at Mission and the staff at Heart Path, I completed my first marathon just 11 months after my heart attack.
One Friday afternoon, I was cycling through the Jenkins Valley area, northwest of Asheville. Halfway into the ride I became unusually fatigued and stopped at a service station to take a break. After a few minutes of rest, I threw in the towel, sat down on a bench and began thinking: tightness in chest and arm - check; lots of sweating - check; nausea - check; tingling in my fingers - check. I wasn't in any pain, but I knew something was wrong and called 911.
