BARGERSVILLE, Ind. — Each morning as the sun rises and the fog burns off over Bargersville, you'll find Bob Carter in the gym.
“I’ve always liked exercise,” said the 68-year old. “It just relaxes me. I put my ear buds in, put on my Sirius XM 60’s on 6, and I’m good to go.”
He is a fitness fanatic who is just as focused on a healthy diet, which is why what happened to the active grandfather one day last spring came as such a shock — even to his doctor.
“I didn't believe that Bob would come in with cardiac arrest,” said R. Nitesh Gadeela, a cardiologist at Community Hospital South.
Last spring, Carter was driving home from the gym. He walked inside and dropped to the floor.
“I don't remember going to the gym that morning. I don't remember anything here. That whole time is blank,” Carter said.
And time that morning was not on his side. His wife called 911. Paramedics rushed Carter to the emergency room at Community Hospital South where Dr. Gadeela and a team of nurses were waiting. Gadeela said it's a miracle Carter was alive at all.
“(That is) because of the severity of the cardiac arrest and the amount of time there was no blood flow to his brain,” Gadeela said.
Carter's heart had stopped. There was 100% blockage in the left side of his heart, no blood flow and there hadn't been for nearly 20 minutes. Gadeela said CPR and a balloon procedure helped save Carter's life, along with his physical fitness, in addition to “all those prayers.”
And Carter agrees.
“Obviously God had a plan for me, right?” he said with a smile.
He was in the hospital for 16 days. As it turns out, the problem runs in his family.
“Even though you eat right, even though you exercise, even though you don't have symptoms, you may have high cholesterol that you have inherited from your parents,” Gadeela said.
"It's hereditary!" Carter said.
That's why Carter is encouraging everyone to know their family's heart history and if there is a history of problems, to get a heart scan. He's thankful just to be here to cherish every living moment with his family.
“People get a second chance sometimes in life. But I got a second, third and fourth,” Carter said. "That time together (with family) seems even more precious than it did."