SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Adam Johnson remembers feeling helpless seven months ago when his daily walk turned into an ambulance ride.
“I was out in the backyard walking [my dog] Eggs on a break from work and I could start feeling it, you know, around my chest. I could start feeling some pain,” Johnson said.
When Johnson’s pain got worse, he was rushed to Mercy Springfield, where his heart stopped in the Emergency Room before it was restarted.
“I’ve seen the pictures of my heart already where it just looks like someone just quenched it and just closed it up tightly,” Johnson said.
Dealing with cardiac arrest and more, the Mercy team responded.
“We got his heart started back up. We did CPR, [got him] intubated,” Dr. Andrea Spangler said.
“He coded, lost his pulse in the emergency room,” Dr. Adnan Alexander Kassier said. “Had this have happened outside the emergency room, the chance of survival would have been pretty slim.”
Doctors used what is called Impella CP, known as the world’s smallest heart pump.
“This is as complex as it gets for a heart patient,” Dr. Kassier said. It’s remarkable that we still have him here. With all the innovation we have and the Impella and all these teams in place, we are doing good work. We were able to save a lot of lives.”
Johnson and Mercy staff celebrated his recovery, meeting face-to-face months after he left the hospital.
“It makes me just want to keep doing good, doing my exercises, you know, make sure I don’t have to come in here again,” Johnson said.
“This is the reason we wake up every morning and come to work every day.” Dr. Kassier said.