At the beginning of 2020, Jim Hays and his wife Peggy were on a ski trip in Jackson Hole when he suddenly suffered a heart attack on the mountain.
“We took a selfie in front of the giant yeti statue. That’s where I started saying, ‘I’m kind of tired. I’m not feeling very well.’ I’m sure something was already happening at that point,” Jim Hays recalled.
As a medical professional, Peggy Hays said her instincts kicked right in.
“He literally just dropped over on his left side like a tin soldier,” Peggy Hays said. “Just kept his airway open with my thumbs because he was still breathing. His heart was still beating.”
Doctors told Peggy Hays that Jim suffered an aneurysm, which lead to a heart attack.
For the next month, Jim Hays continued to fight for his life at a heart transplant institute at the University of Utah, all while the coronavirus pandemic started to affect the country.
Doctors implanted an Impella, the world’s smallest heart pump, to allow his injured heart to rest and recover.
See the full article here: Sacramento man has heart attack while skiing, another while recovering
