Randy Fritz had a heart murmur and was diagnosed with a leaky mitral valve. (Photo courtesy of Randy Fritz) When Randy Fritz went to his primary care physician for a checkup, he hadn’t been to see his doctor in more than a decade, but he wasn’t concerned. Why would he be? He played tennis and…
Glenda Jennings survived a congenital heart defect, two blood disorders, two heart attacks and a cardiac arrest. (Photo courtesy of Glenda Jennings) Childhood friends Glenda Jennings and Connie Hoffroggy were catching up. They lived in different cities and hadn’t seen each other in a while. Hoffroggy noticed Jennings was being snippy – and wondered if…
Stroke survivor and computer science professor Mark Brodie. (Photo courtesy of Mark Brodie) Mark Brodie was sitting behind his laptop in his home office, grading student papers for a mobile applications class he taught at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. Suddenly he couldn’t get his thoughts in order. Everything on the screen and in his…
Stroke survivor Paula Gallagher. (Photo courtesy of Paula Gallagher) When Paula Gallagher arrived at a rehabilitation center five days after her stroke, she felt overwhelmed and devastated. She also couldn’t speak. The clot that reached her brain had stolen her voice. Gallagher, who lives in Madison, Connecticut, was diagnosed with a form of Broca’s aphasia,…
Alex Hobbs has survived two heart attacks. (Photo courtesy of Alex Hobbs) Alex Hobbs was coaching a youth soccer team last May when he felt a burning sensation in his stomach and chest. He’d recently had a respiratory infection and assumed the discomfort was related. Then he felt a familiar pain in his jaw. Alex…
Heart transplant recipient Tiara Johnson. (Photo courtesy of Tiara Johnson) Tiara Johnson’s second pregnancy went smoothly – until the last month. “My fingers were so puffy, I couldn’t wear my wedding ring,” she said. The problem stemmed from her blood pressure. And the rising blood pressure stemmed from preeclampsia, a complication of pregnancy that usually…
Tess Robinson just hours before she had a heart attack on her wedding day. (Photo courtesy of Tess Robinson) Tess Robinson sat in the lobby of the spa at her resort in Negril, Jamaica, waiting for a manicure and pedicure appointment. That evening at sunset, she and her boyfriend of seven years, Josh Oiler, were…
Caroline Goggin (left) with her husband, Travis Eldridge, on their honeymoon just days before her stroke. (Photo courtesy of Caroline Goggin) A week after her honeymoon, Caroline Goggin was telling a story to her husband, Travis Eldridge, as they cleaned up after breakfast in their home in Massachusetts. Goggin, then a reporter and anchor for…
Heart attack survivor Peter Denton (center) with his father, Greg, and son, Hunter. (Photo courtesy of Peter Denton) At 4:30 a.m. on a Monday morning last spring, Peter Denton got up in darkness, dressed and jumped in his pickup truck. The drive to his work site in Detroit took a little more than an hour….
Heart transplant recipient Danecia Williams (left) and her son, Isaiah. (Photo courtesy of Danecia Williams) Although Danecia Williams was 24 and healthy, her first pregnancy took a toll on her body. Her blood pressure spiked, straining her heart and other organs. Doctors diagnosed her with preeclampsia and closely monitored her and the baby for months….