It was Easter Monday 2021 while out for a walk on a local trail that I suffered a heart attack and full cardiac arrest. No warning. No pulse. No breath.
Strangers walking by found me, called 911, and helped until firefighters and paramedics arrived. CPR. Defibrillator 4 times on the ground and twice enroute to the hospital. Two stents at the hands of a skilled cardiac team.
A retired police officer on scene told me later he had never in his 26 years on the force seen so many people work so hard for so long to save a life. I have no memory of the event to this day, but can tell you I understand how fortunate I was. And am. Nothing prepares you for health issues. Of any kind. There’s fear. Uncertainty. Change. Grief. Loss. And in the midst of it, how do you to navigate moving forward.
Through Southlake Health, I was referred to the Cardiac Rehab program. A program where an individual plan is offered to help you get back on track, tools are offered to teach you how to make healthier life choices, and information is made available that assists your recovery and your chances of living a rewarding life with a chronic health condition. The staff are an amazing and dedicated team of people interested only in getting their clients back on their feet and equipping them with the confidence to continue to succeed after the 6-month program is completed.
The equipment and tools available at the Magna Center clinic location get purchased as part of the fundraising efforts of THE BEAT GOES ON, a walk for cardiac rehab. The volunteers in this program are all alumni of the program and I am one such volunteer, understanding that having had the experience of a cardiac event equips me to talk openly with new clients who come in to this program scared about their new normal. Because there is nothing normal about it. And it is incredibly scary. For us. For our loved ones. But this cardiac rehab is a safe place.
Anyhow, I am fundraising again this year for this program that I can't say enough good things about. Maybe drop in and say hi on Thursday May 7, 5:00 - 6:30 at the Magna Center. It’s a fun event. Meet the staff and the volunteers. Play some games. Bid on the raffle items. Walk the track. Good things are happening.
See you there.
Gratefully still yours,
Patti McLaren