Lance Carter says he will never forget the eight minutes it took him to drive to Mercy Hospital Jefferson on Feb. 3, the day he suffered the heart attack that nearly took his life.
Emergency staff quickly started treatment when Carter arrived at the Crystal City medical center.
The 51-year-old rural Festus resident is a maintenance supervisor at River Cement south of the Twin Cities.
“I was at my work and I tried to convince myself for the better part of an hour I was not having a heart attack, that it would pass,” he said. “By the time I was aware of it, I knew I was in trouble. In hindsight, I should have asked somebody to drive me or called an ambulance, but I didn’t think I had time to wait for an ambulance.”
He estimates his workplace is about five miles from the hospital.
“When my boss figured I’d left, he called and stayed on the phone, concerned about me until I got there,” Carter said. “At one point, I thought I’d be physically ill, but it passed. I was focused on getting to the hospital.”
Mercy officials reported it took 17 minutes from when Carter arrived at the emergency room to restore blood flow to his heart. The medical standard for the procedure is 60 minutes, the hospital reported.
Carter’s heart stopped beating while he received a stent to open an artery that was 100 percent blocked, reported Dr. Bassam Roukoz, medical director of the hospital’s cardiac cath lab. The doctor and staff used cardiopulmonary resuscitation and an external defibrillator to restart the patient’s heart.
Carter said he did not have the type of out-of-body experience described by some others who whose hearts have stopped.
“I just knew something had happened,” he said. “I knew I’d missed a piece of time.”
He said he recalls the rest of his heart attack experience.
“They don’t put you out; they do a local anesthetic and give you something to relax you,” he said. “I remember it all, except for when my heart stopped. After they brought me back, I actually started a conversation with them again. It was amazing to me how fast they took care of me.”
Carter said his father died of a heart attack at the age of 29. As a result, Carter said he had consciously lived a healthy lifestyle aside from smoking. The heart attack convinced him to stop smoking and make other healthy living choices.
“Absolutely, I was aware of (his father dying at a young age),” he said. “I try to keep in good health. I’ve taken a baby aspirin a day for years. I was a smoker for 15 years. I have now quit smoking and I’ll change my eating habits. I’m watching my sodium intake and I’m eating very healthy.”
He received a second stent for an artery with 80 percent blockage after two days of recovery from the first stent surgery. His cardiac rehabilitation began while he was still in the hospital.
Carter and his wife, Debbie, have four grown sons: Brandon, Jeremy, Ethan and Ryan. Hoping to stay in good health to enjoy his family, he said he is walking several miles daily and plans to run his first 5-kilometer race soon.
“I’m feeling good,” he said upon his return to work March 10. “My health is good. I am very, very grateful to the staff at Mercy.”
