DES MOINES, Iowa — Aug. 13, 2022 was a big day for Bill Middleton and his family: his son Sam got married that morning.
"The ceremony was just beautiful," said Middleton. "Then after the ceremony, we took pictures, we had the family pictures done. And then we went to the reception."
On that hot August day, Bill says he suddenly started to feel off.
"I had this cold sweat. And then my left arm started hurting."
The dad was set to give a speech soon but wasn't sure if he could pull it off.
"I pulled my wife aside and I said 'I don't know if I can do this.'"
Bill's wife called over a groomsman who just so happened to also be a doctor.
"He said 'You need to call an ambulance,'" Middleton recalled. "And so the medics got there in just a few minutes and they hooked me up to the monitors and the medic said, 'Sir, you're having a heart attack.'"
The medics rushed Bill to MercyOne's Cath Lab where he learned he had a 95% blockage in one artery. To fix it, doctors placed a stent.
Bill's family, including his son and his son's new bride, came to the hospital to make sure everything was OK.
"I get teared up just thinking about it, because you know, there they were," said Middleton. "They left their wedding reception to come down to the hospital. To see the look on my kids' faces, it made me realize I've never been one to take care of myself. In the way I eat or exercise, I've kind of neglected my body. And I realized just how selfish that's been. Because it doesn't just affect me, it affects my whole family."
Bill says it was that day he not only gained another daughter-in-law, but a new outlook on life.
"My wife and I went out, and we bought two new treadmills," said Middleton. "And so part of our commitment is to exercise were really trying to do better with my diet."
Dr. Daniel Shivapour, an interventional cardiologist with MercyOne, says time is of the essence when someone suffers a heart attack.
"The longer the heart is without an adequate blood supply, the more damage folks have, and the bigger impact from their heart attack they have," he said. "If you have severe sudden discomfort in your chest, especially if it's associated with other worrisome symptoms, like nausea and vomiting, a generalized feeling that you're just very sick, you need to call 911. You don't need to try to imagine it might be heartburn or that you can get checked out at urgent care tomorrow. That's really a time-sensitive medical emergency, that for certain patients, if not treated rapidly, can be fatal."