‘I died’: Man shares how recognizing heart attack symptoms and acting immediately ‘saved my life’ | Today’s news
What started as a standard work morning turned into a desperate race against time when a home-based professional caught the first signs of a heart attack and saved his life in the razor-thin window of time between life and death.
In a viral LinkedIn post, George Booth, a corporate investigator in the San Francisco Bay Area, shared his riveting first-hand account of collapsing within 19 minutes of arriving at the hospital and surviving 100% arterial blockage.
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‘I knew I was having a heart attack’
“I died on June 16,” George wrote, hoping his story would raise awareness of the importance of recognizing the early signs of a heart attack.
In a detailed post on LinkedIn, George shared that he was working from home around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday and had just started a Zoom meeting. But he had chest pains since the day before, which he ignored at first.
However, during the encounter, he “suddenly felt hot and nauseous” and the pain spread to his left armpit – “I knew I was having a heart attack.”
After realizing he had little time to act before the symptoms worsened, George “grabbed what I thought I would need for the hospital, went outside, sat on the sidewalk and called 911.”
He also asked several strangers to stay with him until an ambulance arrived. “While I was talking to the dispatcher, a couple walking their dog overheard me. I asked if they would stay with me if I passed out. They didn’t hesitate,” he wrote. “I will never forget their kindness.
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‘My Heart Stopped’
“Just 19 minutes after arriving at the hospital my heart stopped,” George wrote.
He said he remembers the nurses asking questions and the doctor assuring him I was in good hands before “everything went completely black — no pain. No fear. No sound. I was just gone.”
“Then I started hearing loud voices. My vision slowly returned as if I was looking through a peephole that kept expanding. I saw a mountain of a man beside me giving everything he had while performing CPR,” he wrote. “Then I heard someone say, ‘He’s back.’
George said he was rushed to the cath lab, where his heart stopped two more times. “They brought me back every time.
In the viral post, George shared that cardiologists placed two stents – one for a 60% blockage and one for a 100% blockage.
“Timing saved my life”
As he lay in the ICU, George said, “One thought kept repeating in my mind: Timing saved my life.”
Noting that just 19 minutes passed between arriving at the hospital and going into cardiac arrest, he said: “If I had waited at home, I would have died there.”
“If I had tried to drive or even walk the few blocks to the hospital instead of calling 911, I almost certainly wouldn’t have made it,” he noted.
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“Don’t wait. Don’t drive. Call 911.”
George said he wrote the post “because heart attacks don’t always look like what people expect.
He urged readers to pay attention to the symptoms — “If you experience chest pain, pain radiating to the arm or armpit, nausea, sweating or shortness of breath, don’t wait. Don’t drive yourself. Call 911.”
“Minutes matter. They saved my life. They might save yours,” he added.
George also shared his gratitude for “the unknown couple that stuck with me, the 911 dispatcher, the paramedics, the emergency room staff, the ICU nurses, the cardiologists and everyone who refused to give up on me.
