Health Matters | fall 2009

Diagnosis, Response, Treatment, Perseverance: Emergency Heart Care at Halifax Health

Michael McClure underwent emergency heart surgery at Halifax Health and “died” in the operating room. He survived thanks to the persistence and expertise of his treatment team.

Michael McClure thought he was healthy. The 60-year-old Port Orange resident ate a healthy diet, exercised regularly and had normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels. He had no heart disease risk factors — except that his father had died of a heart attack at 58.

In June 2006, McClure began to experience symptoms he didn’t associate with his heart: heartburn; exhaustion while swimming; indigestion one day at work. That turned out to be something much worse, and a co-worker called 911.

When the ambulance brought McClure to Halifax Health Medical Center, he was taken straight to surgery, where he met cardiologist Humayun Jamidar, MD. “I told him I’d like to see my 3-year-old granddaughter grow up,” McClure said.

“I Died on the Table”

McClure needed a stent to prop open his partially blocked arteries. During the implantation procedure, a piece of plaque broke off, causing a complete blockage and a severe heart attack.

“I actually died on the table,” said McClure. “If the team had decided at any point to give up, I wouldn’t have made it.”

He survived and remains healthy through diet, exercise and medication. “Success really was about the entire team at Halifax Health coming together — from diagnosis to response, treatment and perseverance,” he said.

Halifax Health’s heart attack care has been recognized by the Society of Chest Pain Centers and The Joint Commission. Learn more at halifaxhealth.org/cardiology.