On April 21st, 2009, my beloved wife, Marcia, suffered a heart attack just as we were going to bed. I wasn't sure WHAT was wrong, but I knew that I needed help and called 911.
hero_image_alt_text===Picture of Kent & Marcia
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thumbnail_alt_text===Picture of Kent & Marcia
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Amber, the 911 operator, had me relay what was happening then had me begin compression-only CPR. It took the fire department ten minutes to arrive, but their sirens were some of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard. The good people from Ladder 6 took over and ended up shocking my wife's heart three times. I stood there numbly expecting them to turn to me at any minute and say "sorry, Mr. Seeker, we did everything we could". Incredibly (to me), they began readying Marcia for transport to the hospital and I began to allow myself some hope once again. In the ER, it was a beehive of activity, then she was whisked away to the Cardiology Dept. I sat in a waiting room by myself for three hours not knowing if Marcia had lived or died. It was absolutely the longest three hours of my life. Somewhere around 4:00 am, the cardiac surgeon came out and began talking about Marcia in the present tense which I thought was encouraging, so I asked if she was still alive. He said: "she's conscious and talking" and I ‘bout fell over - I felt like I'd won ten lotteries! Maybe twenty minutes later, they wheeled Marcia out on a gurney and I probably made a fool of myself gushing thanks to the surgeon.
That was nearly five years ago and I still have my Marcia. It hasn't always been easy, but her health has stabilized and Marcia suffered no brain damage, for which we're very thankful, since the cardiologist referred to her heart attack as "one of the worst there is". We've since been able to thank the firefighters and Amber, the 911 operator, in person for their lifesaving efforts and plan to visit them again on the five-year anniversary of their 'save'.
About one year after Marcia's heart attack, one of our local television stations, WISC, contacted us about doing a story promoting compression-only CPR training for everyone. We agreed and that story is still available on YouTube. You can click this link to watch our story: http://youtu.be/9V974FNSuz4
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