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Marc Cashman was lying on his bed watching television last May when his chest suddenly felt compressed.
He began sweating profusely. His breathing became heavy. Then he felt his left arm go numb.
“At first I thought I was having a panic attack,” the 51 year old said. “I got up and took a couple of Aspirin. It was just instinct. I (splashed) some water on my face, then I woke my wife up and she said, ‘Oh my God, you’re grey. I’m calling 911.'”
Within five minutes, the ambulance had arrived from the station just around the corner, and Cashman was rushed to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. “They hooked me up to all kinds of these machines,” he said, “and (then) I had a full-on heart attack.”
Cashman said his heart “flatlined” three times in the hospital, and the medical staff had to shock him multiple times with defibrillators to revive him. They then inserted two stents through his wrists to alleviate the blockage in his heart. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the intensive care unit.
“They call it the widow-maker,” Cashman said. “It’s (a blockage) in the main artery that feeds the heart … only 26 per cent (of people) survive it.”
Cashman and his wife, Gloria Higdon, have been married for nearly 14 years. Higdon, a consultant for a cybersecurity company, said traumatic events like this could push couples apart. “But in our case it certainly brought us together,” she said.
After the event, the two embarked on a journey of emotional healing. They enrolled in an eight-week therapeutic program at the heart institute that helps couples communicate their feelings to one another after a traumatic heart event.
“When you go through (a heart scare), your partner goes through the same thing (emotionally),” Cashman said of his wife.
For the upcoming Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, the pair have decided to show their gratitude to the institute by bringing together a small group of family members and friends to walk the 5K in Canada’s largest annual marathon.
“This is going to make me cry,” said Higdon, “but we’re just so grateful for Marc being here with us and to the heart institute for saving his life. It’s not a rosy path to healing because Marc certainly has ups and downs … but our attitudes are as positive as they can be.”
Cashman said a major part of his recovery has been a shift in his diet. Before his heart attack, his career as a software company owner required him to travel. “My lifestyle wasn’t good, ” he said. “(I was) eating out all the time … in restaurants, eating high sodium, high sugar, and it just all caught up to me.”
He said his poor diet, two herniated disks in his back and the resulting extensive weight gain probably influenced his heart scare. He has since downloaded a mobile app to track his caloric intake, and begun a strict exercise regimen that’s had dramatic health results.
Cashman fell from 233 pounds to 198. He said he plans to lose another 15 pounds in the coming months, and now goes to the gym for at least an hour every day.
He said his wife has been there every step of the way, and has also adopted his healthy lifestyle practices.
Cashman said his campaign team for the race aims to raise $5,000 for the heart institute to “help them get the equipment they need” to continue to save lives. Donations can be made at tinyurl.com/ycele7he.
“For people who have suffered from (heart conditions), you’re not alone,” Cashman said. “We’re trying to send the message that you have other people to reach out to, if you need to.”
Higdon said “a grateful heart is a magnet for miracles,” and that there’s no better way to give back than to raise money through this initiative. “It’s an honour, truly,” she added.
Cashman said the marathon is especially important because it will take place on Saturday, May 26 — exactly one year to the day he nearly died.
“(It’ll be) a year ago today that I almost left this earth, and today I’m walking.”
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He began sweating profusely. His breathing became heavy. Then he felt his left arm go numb.
“At first I thought I was having a panic attack,” the 51 year old said. “I got up and took a couple of Aspirin. It was just instinct. I (splashed) some water on my face, then I woke my wife up and she said, ‘Oh my God, you’re grey. I’m calling 911.'”
Within five minutes, the ambulance had arrived from the station just around the corner, and Cashman was rushed to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. “They hooked me up to all kinds of these machines,” he said, “and (then) I had a full-on heart attack.”
Cashman said his heart “flatlined” three times in the hospital, and the medical staff had to shock him multiple times with defibrillators to revive him. They then inserted two stents through his wrists to alleviate the blockage in his heart. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the intensive care unit.
“They call it the widow-maker,” Cashman said. “It’s (a blockage) in the main artery that feeds the heart … only 26 per cent (of people) survive it.”
Cashman and his wife, Gloria Higdon, have been married for nearly 14 years. Higdon, a consultant for a cybersecurity company, said traumatic events like this could push couples apart. “But in our case it certainly brought us together,” she said.
After the event, the two embarked on a journey of emotional healing. They enrolled in an eight-week therapeutic program at the heart institute that helps couples communicate their feelings to one another after a traumatic heart event.
“When you go through (a heart scare), your partner goes through the same thing (emotionally),” Cashman said of his wife.
For the upcoming Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, the pair have decided to show their gratitude to the institute by bringing together a small group of family members and friends to walk the 5K in Canada’s largest annual marathon.
“This is going to make me cry,” said Higdon, “but we’re just so grateful for Marc being here with us and to the heart institute for saving his life. It’s not a rosy path to healing because Marc certainly has ups and downs … but our attitudes are as positive as they can be.”
Cashman said a major part of his recovery has been a shift in his diet. Before his heart attack, his career as a software company owner required him to travel. “My lifestyle wasn’t good, ” he said. “(I was) eating out all the time … in restaurants, eating high sodium, high sugar, and it just all caught up to me.”
He said his poor diet, two herniated disks in his back and the resulting extensive weight gain probably influenced his heart scare. He has since downloaded a mobile app to track his caloric intake, and begun a strict exercise regimen that’s had dramatic health results.
Cashman fell from 233 pounds to 198. He said he plans to lose another 15 pounds in the coming months, and now goes to the gym for at least an hour every day.
He said his wife has been there every step of the way, and has also adopted his healthy lifestyle practices.
Cashman said his campaign team for the race aims to raise $5,000 for the heart institute to “help them get the equipment they need” to continue to save lives. Donations can be made at tinyurl.com/ycele7he.
“For people who have suffered from (heart conditions), you’re not alone,” Cashman said. “We’re trying to send the message that you have other people to reach out to, if you need to.”
Higdon said “a grateful heart is a magnet for miracles,” and that there’s no better way to give back than to raise money through this initiative. “It’s an honour, truly,” she added.
Cashman said the marathon is especially important because it will take place on Saturday, May 26 — exactly one year to the day he nearly died.
“(It’ll be) a year ago today that I almost left this earth, and today I’m walking.”
查看原文...
