A Glimpse Into The Second Half Of Life
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
In a recent WOWSA Live interview with International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer Peter Jurzynski (listen here), he spoke of swimming 2 of his 20 English Channel attempts after he underwent heart bypass surgery.
He ultimately completed 14 career crossings of the English Channel, but his ability to handle cold water was impacted in his post-heart surgery career. In other words, Jurzynski was much more susceptible to hypothermia after his heart surgery compared to before.
“That was the same for me,” commented Steven Munatones. “My ability to handle cold water – nothing like Peter’s ability of course – was severely impacted. I experienced ventricular fibrillation arrest, atypical thrombus (clot) and a myocardial infarction (MI) in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery, otherwise known as a widow maker, before my 17-year-old son saved me with CPR and I came out of a coma in May 2016.
When I woke up, I didn’t know where I was – I was thoroughly perplexed when my eyes opened in the coronary care unit in Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California.
When my family told me what had happened at bedside, I realized every additional day that I live is a bonus; overtime and an opportunity that was only due to a perfect storm of other’s actions. I was gifted this additional time on Earth because of the quick actions of my son, the 911 operator, the paramedics and the firemen who arrived at my home, the emergency room staff, my ICU and CCU nurses, and cardiologists at Hoag – supported by the prayers of my family and friends. I do not want to waste any of this second half of my life.”
Munatones gave a short glimpse into his pre- post-heart attack life at Harvard University in June 2019.
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