Early in the morning, I was awakened by a frantic call from my mother. She said, " I am at the hospital with your Dad!". I jumped out of bed and headed to our local heart hospital, Encore. While there my Daddy, the rock of our family, had a heart attack right in front of us. Members of the Cath Team from the Arkansas Heart Hospital (Little Rock) were rushed over and a Cath procedure was attempted but failed, and Dad was placed on an Impella Device. Then, around 2 in the afternoon, Dad was transferred to The Arkansas Heart Hospital.

Upon being admitted, Nurse Joe Hopper (RN) was Dad's one-on-one nurse! He worked tirelessly until after 7 pm to stabilize Dad's stats, he was cognizant of when something was wrong (even if Dad was not speaking up), he answered all of our questions, and he has the BEST sense of humor! He made us feel so at ease that Mom and I were able to go home that night knowing that Joe would be back in the morning to take over the helm of Dad's care again! After getting Dad's stats stabilized, Dad was able to return to the Cath Lab Saturday afternoon. Before Dad left the room, Joe told us that "this procedure could take 30 minutes or 2 hours, so do not panic if he is in there for a while." After 2 hours, Mom and I were beginning to panic. Just as we were about to reach the edge, Joe came down to the lobby to tell us that he had gone into the Cath Lab, and that Dad was doing well and that the procedure was almost done. He gave us such relief in such a tense moment!

Sadly, after surgery, Dad was moved to another floor, and we lost Joe as a nurse. Although I know all nurses are capable, knowing that Joe would not be at Dad's side was anxiety-inducing. Then, at 12:39 the next day Dad was up and using the restroom, and his blood pressure dropped too low (of course we did not know this at the time), and he went down! Nurses rushed from all directions while my Dad was completely unresponsive! Mom and I were asked to step out while they tried to get him to respond, and as we were headed to the lobby, Joe came around the corner. He was not even on the same floor, and was coming to save my Daddy! I can not tell you the amount of relief that came over me just seeing his face! I told him to "go and save my Daddy", and he responded that he was on it! Joe stayed with Dad for some time after the "episode" to ensure that his stats were ok! I cannot say enough about his skill as a nurse, his dedication to patients and families, and his amazing heart!