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PHOTO COURTESY KIP JERVIS Pictured left to right: Elijah Jervis and wife Kenzie Jervis, Jazlyn Hacker and husband Ben Hacker, Tammy Jervis, and Kip Jervis.
They both died of heart failure, his father passing relatively young at 49.
Looking back on the day of his heart attack, Jervis recalls waking up as though it“ was any other day.”
“ I didn’ t really feel any different than the day before, or the day before that. As far as the onset of the heart attack itself, it came on very quickly,” Jervis recalled.“ It began as pain in my left arm, but then it began to radiate to my chest and through and out the other arm. I was sweating profusely, couldn’ t get any relief, and my breathing was very shallow. I tried to drink something and couldn’ t swallow.”
It was at that point that Jervis knew he had to address the situation.
“ I think there’ s just this basic, almost animalistic instinct, that sets us into survivor mode,” Jervis stated.“ I just began driving myself toward the hospital, praying and crying out to God I’ d make it.”
A“ widow maker” occurs when the left anterior descending( LAD) artery becomes completely or nearly blocked. The LAD artery supplies a large portion of the heart muscle with blood.
Jervis said he received immediate care from a“ wonderful team” upon arriving at the emergency room of Baptist Health Corbin. There, the healthcare workers performed a stent procedure on him and removed some of the clotting. He had to stay in the ICU( intensive care unit) until the following morning.
Jervis now exercises twice per week with the cardiac rehab department at Baptist Health Corbin. He has not been cleared for strenuous activities yet, so they connect him to a monitor for the workouts.
Due to having reoccurring issues with his spine, Jervis is used to hospitalization and recovery. Last spring, he had a major multi-level