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Irregular News for 10.03.06
Chicago, IL -- Kevin Burdett hesitates at calling what happened to him May 13 a miracle. But coming back from the brink of death -- twice in one evening -- might be hard for some to view as anything else.
The 46-year-old Naperville man can't remember much about that day. It was an ordinary Saturday full of errands and activities. He spent the early afternoon at his church, Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Naperville, putting away tables and chairs after a mother-daughter tea. From there, he went to Planet Fitness Gym. Continuing the running regimen he had started the week before, he logged 1.5 miles on the treadmill.
That was the last thing he remembers before waking up five days later in the intensive care unit at Edward Hospital.
''I died twice,'' Burdett said. ''I can't take any of the credit for the fact I am alive. I can only give God the glory.''
To know what happened between the treadmill and the hospital bed, Burdett relies on what others have told him.
He apparently left the gym without talking to anyone and drove to the hospital, parking in the north garage. From there, he inexplicably went to the hospital's cafeteria, bought a Coke -- a beverage he seldom drinks -- and sat down at a table.
A woman noticed he was turning blue. As he slid off the chair in full cardiac arrest, she called for help. Within moments, hospital personnel were at his side performing CPR and applying the paddles of an automated external defibrillator to his chest.
He was taken to the cardiac intensive care unit, where he again went into cardiac arrest. Again he was resuscitated.
Many heart attack victims die instantly. Survivors often experience some degree of heart and brain damage. Yet Burdett has apparently suffered no residual health problems.
No brain or lung damage
A marketing director with McCain Foods, Burdett left his native Canada to work at the Lisle branch four years ago. He has always been physically active and plays soccer, hockey and golf, which made it all the more difficult for his wife, Roxanne Burdett, to comprehend what had happened .
"It takes the carpet right out from under you," said Roxanne, a nurse.
He apparently had suffered a blockage in his right coronary artery, the result of a clot that formed when plaque in that area ruptured. Complicating matters, he had aspirated the Coke into his lungs during his heart attack, resulting in pneumonia.
But follow-up tests showed no brain damage, no lung damage, and no heart damage. By the weekend, he was showing significant improvement and was released from the hospital that Monday.
source
Chicago, IL -- Kevin Burdett hesitates at calling what happened to him May 13 a miracle. But coming back from the brink of death -- twice in one evening -- might be hard for some to view as anything else.
The 46-year-old Naperville man can't remember much about that day. It was an ordinary Saturday full of errands and activities. He spent the early afternoon at his church, Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Naperville, putting away tables and chairs after a mother-daughter tea. From there, he went to Planet Fitness Gym. Continuing the running regimen he had started the week before, he logged 1.5 miles on the treadmill.
That was the last thing he remembers before waking up five days later in the intensive care unit at Edward Hospital.
''I died twice,'' Burdett said. ''I can't take any of the credit for the fact I am alive. I can only give God the glory.''
To know what happened between the treadmill and the hospital bed, Burdett relies on what others have told him.
He apparently left the gym without talking to anyone and drove to the hospital, parking in the north garage. From there, he inexplicably went to the hospital's cafeteria, bought a Coke -- a beverage he seldom drinks -- and sat down at a table.
A woman noticed he was turning blue. As he slid off the chair in full cardiac arrest, she called for help. Within moments, hospital personnel were at his side performing CPR and applying the paddles of an automated external defibrillator to his chest.
He was taken to the cardiac intensive care unit, where he again went into cardiac arrest. Again he was resuscitated.
Many heart attack victims die instantly. Survivors often experience some degree of heart and brain damage. Yet Burdett has apparently suffered no residual health problems.
No brain or lung damage
A marketing director with McCain Foods, Burdett left his native Canada to work at the Lisle branch four years ago. He has always been physically active and plays soccer, hockey and golf, which made it all the more difficult for his wife, Roxanne Burdett, to comprehend what had happened .
"It takes the carpet right out from under you," said Roxanne, a nurse.
He apparently had suffered a blockage in his right coronary artery, the result of a clot that formed when plaque in that area ruptured. Complicating matters, he had aspirated the Coke into his lungs during his heart attack, resulting in pneumonia.
But follow-up tests showed no brain damage, no lung damage, and no heart damage. By the weekend, he was showing significant improvement and was released from the hospital that Monday.
source
