“‘Can we move forward and find out why his chest hurts?’ I was FURIOUS. When she came back in, the first thing out of her mouth was, ‘Well, your toxicology screens were clear.’ All she saw was a young black man and assumed he was on drugs. No one would help him. One day, while playing basketball with friends, his heart stopped.”
‘Does he smoke or do drugs?’ My 19-year-old son was having heart attacks. He said no, but all she kept asking was, ‘Does he do drugs?’: Mom loses son after hospital malpractice, ‘This is systemic racism’
‘Galen, babe. We probably need to get moving.’ He didn’t respond. I thought he was just in a deep sleep.’: Woman loses husband to heart attack after 6-year battle with cancer
“He had a rough night with heartburn. ‘Galen, Galen.’ I set my hand upon his arm. He was COLD. The love of my life, the man I’d been married to for 13 years, was not breathing. The police officer hugged me from behind, tears streaming down my face as I choked on snot. I watched them put the love of my life in a black body bag. I would find out later that week, the EMTs had originally gone to the wrong location.”
‘We think you had a heart attack.’ I knew what was coming, the URGENT TRANSPLANT LIST.’: At 28, woman suffers heart failure and sepsis, ‘It’s HER heart that keeps me alive’
“My heart was failing. I couldn’t even get out of bed. I threw up instantly and then fainted. ‘I can’t be sick forever. I can’t live like this.’ The coordinator came in to tell me there may be a heart for me — her heart. I wasn’t scared. I was ready.”
‘I was lying in bed, feeling extreme anxiety about a noise I heard, when it hit me like a ton of bricks. ‘I HAVE IT, TOO.’: Mom learns she’s lived 34 years with Sensory Processing Disorder after daughter’s diagnosis
“Growing up, I often felt a lot of anxiety. I would undress immediately after putting on clothes. I couldn’t stand the feeling of my brothers sitting next to me. I would desperately put my hands beside my thighs to get relief if their legs pressed against mine. I want to help the little girl inside of me who spent 34 years feeling there was ‘wrong’ with her. I want to hug her and tell her it’s not her fault.”
‘I shouted to my husband, ‘I think I’m having a heart attack!’ There I was, lying naked on the table as they announced my weight. ‘249 pounds.’: Mom of 3 loses ‘whopping 125 pounds’ after nearly fatal heart attack
“I remember feeling the most horrendous pain shoot up my left arm. ‘Please, God, don’t let me die. My three children still need me.’ An overwhelming sense of doom came over me. All I could see were the dark eyes of my doctor hovered over the rail of that hospital bed. He told me, ‘This is a wake up call, Adrienne.’ I was alone, naked, vulnerable, and helpless. The only thing I could do was pray.”
‘Do you want to join me?,’ Sean asked. I said no. I agonize over that choice. I didn’t say goodbye.’: Woman loses ‘healthy, active’ husband to sudden heart attack while biking, ‘His death makes no sense’
“4 days after Christmas, it was a beautiful sunny day. ‘I want to ride the trails,’ my husband said. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to go?’ It got dark. By 5:30, I was encouraged to call 911. ‘My husband hasn’t returned,’ I told the dispatcher. Panic filled my soul. ‘Finding him is not our priority,’ I was told. I called my kids, who were forced to locate their dad on foot. I’ll never forget their faces. As I walked toward the trail, my son begged me not to get any closer.”
‘You can’t put me in ICU Room 6. My mom just died there last week.’: Young woman miraculously survives pulmonary embolisms just one week after mom dies of ‘broken heart’
“I lost my best friend. ‘What am I supposed to do now?’ All I’d ever known was taking care of my mother. Suddenly, I felt a tightness in my chest. ‘Well here is the panic attack I’ve been waiting for since she died.’ I arrive at the ER. The doctor came in. I remembered her. She was the doctor who admitted my mom. My heart rate shot up in panic. I looked her right in the eyes. ‘You can’t put me in Room 6. My mom just died there last week.’”
‘Scott, a 30-year-old picture of health, was on the Treadmill before work. The cleaning lady found him.’: Woman loses Border Patrol Agent husband to sudden heart attack, finds new partner who ‘allows me to love 2 men at the same time’
“‘There’s been an accident.’ Silence. My doorbell rang. 6 uniformed agents were at my front door. ‘Leave your daughter here, they will watch her, you need to come with me.’ I was hesitant, but sensed the urgency in their voices. No one knows how long he had been laying there. I froze. I kept thinking it was a joke. Scott was a huge prankster. I just kept hoping his eyes would open.”
‘Why, my baby, why!’ Our boy was suffering. I never thought I’d have to make a decision like this.’: Mom urges life can ‘change drastically in minutes’ after infant son dies from heart attack, SIDS, bronchial pneumonia
“After 12 long hours, we decided to let him go. We got him Baptized and got his finger and hand prints before the doctor came in and said it was time. She put him in a little quilt and put him into my mom’s arms. Yes, my mom’s. I couldn’t hold him at that point, I was a coward.”
‘My mom came out of surgery. ‘Everything looks beautiful,’ the nurse said. Just 10 minutes later, my sister called screaming. My little mom was gone.’ Mom passes after heart surgery, brings family closer than ‘ever before’
“I remember my mom stepping into the house. She looked different, weak. She blamed it on eating bad bacon…yes, bacon. I talked to her about the possibility of having had a heart attack. She looked at me stubbornly and said, ‘So?’ We convinced her to go to the hospital. She went only for her ‘little angels,’ her great grandkids. We found ourselves in tidal wave after tidal wave of problems.”
