Heart Survivor Story – Daniel Poe

Daniel was a healthy 43-year-old with no medical conditions. He could've never predicted that what started off as a normal day in the office would end in disaster.

After lunch, Daniel began experiencing what he thought was indigestion. He went on about his day and later called his sister to complain about the indigestion. Luckily, that raised a flag for her. She immediately came to Daniel’s office, assessed him and called 911. He was having a heart attack.

Daniel recalls being greeted by a host of medical professionals as he arrived at the hospital. The next thing he knew he was being wheeled back to the operating room for an emergency procedure – a scope to determine the best course of action. The scope revealed a 99% blockage.

Things quickly went from bad to worse. Daniel went into cardiac arrest. But the team never gave up on him, performing over 40 minutes of CPR and AED work to get his heart pumping again. Daniel credits Dr. Phillip Smith and the team for saving his life and giving him a fresh start.

After months of cardiac rehab, diet changes and an additional heart surgery, Daniel is thriving.

“I think the best thing anybody can take away from my story is awareness -- because I felt like I was young, I was healthy, I was strong, didn't have any pre-diagnosis, never had any symptoms or issues. So when I had the heart attack, I was caught off guard.”