When Mary Gordon went into cardiac arrest, her life was saved by first responders who performed CPR for six minutes and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) twice to shock her heart back into rhythm. She is now a committed advocate for CPR and AED training for everyone—not just first responders and medical professionals—and wants to "pay it forward" by helping other ordinary citizens like herself learn these critical skills so that they, too, may one day save a life.
Tim Jennings enjoys spending his days fishing from his kayak. So, when this active and healthy 56-year-old experienced "fluttering" in his heart, he decided there was no time to waste.
A team of specialists from Virginia Heart gave Charles Falkler’s family the best gift they could last Christmas: they saved Charles life after he went into cardiogenic shock and, working together, have nursed him back to full health in the year since. “This year, we’re going to have a fantastic Christmas,” Charles’ wife Vickie said.
It was a beautiful day on the Eastern Shore in Maryland and David Hayes was enjoying a round of golf with his colleagues. Suddenly, the afternoon turned deadly. David was slumped over in his golf cart, passed out and in complete cardiac arrest. His survival relied both on the immediate care he received from a member of the Virginia Heart team there on the golf course and the availability of a defibrillator.
Dr. Robert Wilkins likens his CardioMEMS™ pulmonary artery pressure monitoring system to having an EZPass tag implanted in his heart. He lies down for a few minutes each day on a special pillow that reads and sends data from the device to his care team at Virginia Heart so they can adjust his heart failure treatment plan in real time without the need for office appointments—or even worse, trips to the emergency room and costly hospitalizations.
With support and guidance from Dr. Casey Benton and the Virginia Heart team, John Mason met the challenge of open heart surgery in his mid-80s like he’s met every challenge he has faced throughout his life: with courage, determination and great success.
