Friday Morning Perspective

Yesterday morning I was waiting for the bus at Trinity Mills and Westgrove when a man standing next to me had a heart attack. I tried to help him sit down when he went into convulsions and hit the ground-hard. He was speaking to me telling me that he had a pace maker. He was still breathing and coherent. I called 911 only to be placed on hold. A man sitting at a stop light witnessed these events and pulled into the parking lot where we were. He was already on the phone to 911. My first thought was that I would have to perform CPR but since he had a pace maker there was no need as long as he was still breathing. The pace maker was shocking his heart every 15-20 seconds. The shock were violent. His body would literally jump off the ground. But he, Timothy, was still coherent and talking to us. The other man was taking down his phone number, his wife's name, everything. I was just trying to keep him comfortable until the ambulance arrived. The paramedics arrived and loaded him into the ambulance. They told me that the pace maker was the only thing keeping him alive.
All day, I wondered about him. I did call the hospital later in the day to find out if he was okay. The nurse informed my that he was still in ICU but stable.
This was my friday morning. I feel good that I was able to help a total stranger. I am so happy that he had a pace maker otherwise I feel the outcome would not have been good. He obviously had heart problems in the past. Afterwards I took some stock in my own health. I don't always make the best decisions and I definatly could excersize more. Then I got to thinking about modern technology. How a small device, attached to a heart, can keep you alive when the heart fails. I simply find it amazing.