32 years ago at the age of 47, my husband had a heart attack. They called it a “widow maker”. He was given what was called then a “clot buster”, but the pain did not immediately subside. Our family, church family, and friends gathered in the waiting room of MCSA in El Dorado and prayed for him. Eventually, the clot buster worked and he was out of immediate danger. The next day he was transported from El Dorado to Baptist Medical. This was before we had the Arkansas Heart Hospital. A heart cath was performed and it was determined that he would need to have open heart surgery, because of the position of the blockage. I had never heard of anyone that young having open heart surgery. I’m sure there were some, I just didn’t know anyone. It was a scary and unnerving time for us, but it was successful and for the most part life continued pretty normal for him. He was followed up yearly.

Through the years he has had many stents, many medications, a pacemaker, defibrillator, etc. By the grace of God and improved medical technology, he’s still with me and I thank God for every day/year that he has given us together, which will be 59 years in June.

Fast forward to April 2023. He went for a heart cath at the Arkansas Heart Hospital. If you’re familiar with heart issues, it’s a pretty normal procedure with very little potential risk and he’s had many through the years. When they called me to his room after the procedure was over, a nurse, Steve Jackson was there with him applying pressure to his cath site. Everything seemed normal, but he was coughing, clearing his throat quite a bit and Steve said that he told him he had a lot of drainage, which he does, we both do. As we were talking, I noticed blood on his lip and I told Steve, he must have busted his lip while he was in the cath lab. Then, about that time he coughed and he put his hand up to cover his mouth and when he put his hand down, there was blood in his hand. I looked at Steve and said, that is not sinus drainage! He immediately knew something was wrong and suspected a punctured artery/lung. He quickly sprang into action, called his doctor, called for a chest x-ray and they immediately turned him on his side, began giving him drugs to try to clot off the punctured artery/lung and injections to try to get the fluid off of his lung as quickly as possible. When his doctor entered the room he began explaining what had happened and that it rarely happens, but it does happen. All this time, J.T. is coughing up blood into a towel. I said this is scaring me to death. He looked at me and said, this is scaring me to death too, which was not very comforting. I don’t remember too much of what he said after that, because I stepped away and began falling apart. Then I began praying, God please stop this bleeding, bring healing, etc., and then I began praying for myself. I prayed that I would have peace and that I would act like I have a Heavenly Father. Steve began reassuring me, showing me the monitor which was showing his vital signs were normal. Within a few minutes, I don’t really remember how long, I felt the presence of the Lord in that hospital room in a way that I can’t explain, except God. The coughing began to subside and then stopped completely. I didn’t find out until the next day, that death usually occurs when this happens unless they respond to the treatment and the puncture seals off. I’m still praising the Lord for His mercy and his grace shown to us that evening in that hospital room.

I’m also so thankful for Steve’s quick action, calmness, and reassurance. He never left his room until his shift ended. He will never know what it meant to me for him to be there with me. He made a huge impression on me as someone who was compassionate as well as skilled in what he does every day, but that day I was the recipient of that compassion and skill. Thank you, Steve Jackson, and the Arkansas Heart Hospital. You are the best.