On the day of June 6th, 2023, I was having what seemed to be an average day. My family and I were preparing to join my fathers-in-law birthday celebration. I recall earlier that day I was having some issues with my stomach that felt similar to indigestion, but it subsided after a couple of minutes, so I thought nothing of it being it was never an indicator of concern. Minutes prior to leaving with the family (we have 10 year old triplets), I asked my wife for a cold pack being I had symptoms of a headache. Afterward, I suggested she could drop me off at the hospital to get checked and to pick me up after the birthday get-together. As we moved toward the car I asked her to drive. This request almost never happens being I like to drive the family. As the kids entered the back seats I remember opening the passenger door and that was my last memory of that day. Days later I woke up in the hospital with various teary-eyed strangers accompanied with family members surrounding my bed. It was a couple more days later when I started to understand or to the least, was able to start putting the pieces of the puzzle together that I had a heart attack. More specifically, it was a full cardiac arrest e.g., total blockage of the artery. Only, there was more to this circumstance. Turns out I had a seizure first. After seizure, I started to have various strokes one after the other (called mini-strokes). Immediately after the strokes I had the heart attack. Fortunately, my wife called 911 immediately. The medics both provided CPR on me, but they couldn’t get a pulse. As they drove off, they put the Lucus Chest Compressor device on me and took me to the hospital. By the time I arrived to the hospital I coded three times but as is obvious; I survived thanks to the swift actions and collaboration involving my wife, 911 operator, EMS, hospital staff, nurses, and of course Dr. Korpanty (my cardiologist). I’m happy to say that since this incident, I’ve made a miraculous comeback. It’s been more than a year and I’m been doing extremely well. No issues, cause for concerns nor complaints. As always, I’d like to give thanks to my cardiologist Dr. Korpanty, the staff at Kettering hospital and The American Heart Association for being the advocate of inspiration of heart health world-round. -Reginald O’Neal Gibson

Remembering The Covenant