Life is a little less strenuous these days for Ngongotahā local Gary, who in August 2021 suffered a series of life-threatening heart attacks.
Gary, a mechanical engineer by trade, had picked up a heavy box and then felt a massive pain in his chest. Putting the box back down, he leant against the bench and started to feel hot, clammy and sweaty.
Gary had done a lot of first aid training in his time and knew something was seriously wrong. He said the hardest thing for him “was to admit to myself that something wasn’t right and that I needed to do something about it, and fast.”
Gary knew he was in the midst of a heart attack. He was about to call emergency services when in walked his partner, Trish. Seeing the state he was in, Trish immediately made the call.
Critically ill when the ambulance arrived, the medics arranged for the rescue helicopter to meet them with urgency at the Rotorua Hospital helipad, and transfer Gary to Waikato Hospital for emergency surgery.
Gary had a second heart attack while on the helipad and a third during his admission to Waikato Hospital.
20 minutes from take-off to landing in the rescue helicopter, and Gary was being prepped for stent surgery to clear the blocked artery causing his heart attacks.
“I had fantastic care” says Gary, “it was 4 hours from pick up, to the recovery room. I have no doubt that had I not got that time-critical flight to get to the surgeons I may not be here today,” he says of his ordeal.
Now on medication to repair damage to his heart muscle, Gary is keen to get the message out to all men “to look after themselves and take the time to get regular checkups”. Gary says he has lost friends to heart attacks and feels very lucky to have experienced the life-saving flight which ensured he’s alive today.