Atrium Health Floyd Caregivers Saved Man's Life
ROME, Ga., April 24, 2024 – At 71 years old, David Williams was, as they say, healthy as an ox. He ably hiked the woods around his lake cabin and took no medicine other than the occasional ibuprofen for his old football injuries. For the past couple of years, he had experienced sporadic bouts of light-headedness, but didn't think much of it.
On the morning of Jan. 30, David woke up with discomfort in his chest. His wife, Carol, was away from home running errands. He even ran a few errands himself, but the unusual sensation in his chest didn't go away. When Carol returned home, David told her about the uneasiness he was feeling. Her first thought was indigestion, but David told her this was a different kind of feeling, adding that he had taken two aspirin.
Hearing that her husband had taken aspirin, Carol shifted into a different mode. David didn't take medicine. She told him to get in the car. She was driving him to Polk Medical Center, about six miles from their home in Rockmart. The couple talked casually while during the drive. Then, about half a mile from the hospital, the conversation stopped suddenly. David had slumped in his seat.
Carol sped the rest of the way to the hospital, screeched into the emergency department entrance at Polk, all the while blowing her horn to get attention. A team of caregivers rushed out to the entrance while a gentleman – neither David nor Carol knows his identity, crossed the parking lot to their car, opened the door, unfastened David's seat belt, lifted him up and laid him on the concrete beside their car.
“He was an earthly angel," David said. “Nobody knows or has a clue about who this gentleman was. I'd love to know who he was so I could at least say, 'thank you.'"
The physicians, nurses and other caregivers knelt at David's side. His heart had stopped beating. The team immediately started chest compressions, then lifted him onto a stretcher and quickly moved him into an examination room. An electrical shock from a defibrillator re-started his heart. All the while, a Polk nurse stayed by Carol's side, comforting her.
Recognizing that David would need advanced treatment, he was whisked away to Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center by ambulance. His heart stopped again during the 25-mile drive to the hospital, and Floyd teammates again restarted his heart.
David says he has no memories of these events. His next memory is waking up a day later in the intensive care unit at Floyd Medical Center with four stents in the arteries feeding blood to his heart. His wife leaned over him and gently told the love of her life that he had suffered a heart attack.
“I couldn't believe it," David said. “I have always been in such great shape."
Now, David said, his symptoms make more sense. The occasional, but fleeting light-headedness was an early warning. The discomfort in his chest was his only other symptom.
The Williamses have nothing but praise for the care they received and the caregivers who delivered it at both hospitals.
“All the caretakers, the nurses, the doctors, even the young ladies coming in and emptying the trash, they were courteous, nice, unbelievable," David said. “When I came more to my senses and I knew I wasn't going to kick the bucket, I told my wife we have got to go tell all these nurses, doctors and caretakers how grateful I am that they all looked after me. That was the number one thing that I wanted to do."
Once David was out of the hospital and had started cardiac rehab at Polk Medical Center, they did just that. Carol baked cookies and cakes and delivered them to the Polk emergency department, the Floyd emergency department and the Floyd intensive care unit.
“We wanted to make sure they knew we were so appreciative that they saved my life," David said. “They all did such a great job. All of them were unbelievable. They were guardian angels. I told them, 'you people are angels on earth,' and they definitely are. They don't get enough credit for what they do."
Sunday, April 7, was David's 72nd birthday, and his wife planned a special celebration during that morning's church service. The sanctuary was filled with his three children, six grandchildren and numerous nurses, physicians and other clinicians who had helped care for him after his heart attack. David's eyes welled with tears.
His wife stood at the pulpit and told David's story, making sure to thank the Atrium Health Floyd teammates who played a role in ensuring he was alive to celebrate another birthday.
“She gave one of the most heart-felt sermons I have ever heard," David said.
After the service, David walked through the church doors to find his family and Atrium Health Floyd caregivers. The assembly broke into song, singing “Happy Birthday" to the man who very easily could have missed celebrating that birthday.
“It was a very special day for me, and humbling to me," David said. “The good Lord was looking after me. He had all these angels on earth right here. I have new insight into how good the Lord is.
“There are a lot of earthly angels here."
About Atrium Health Floyd
The Atrium Health Floyd family of health care services is a leading medical provider and economic force in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Floyd employs more than 3,500 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at three hospitals: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center – a 304-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia; and Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; as well as Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health – a freestanding 53-bed behavioral health facility in Rome – and also primary care and urgent care network locations throughout northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd also operates a stand-alone emergency department in Chattooga County, the first such facility to be built from the ground-up in Georgia.
About Atrium Health
Atrium Health is a nationally recognized leader in shaping health outcomes through innovative research, education and compassionate patient care. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atrium Health is part of Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, which was created from the combination with Advocate Aurora Health. A recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research, Wake Forest University School of Medicine is its academic core. Atrium Health is renowned for its top-ranked pediatric, cancer and heart care, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Atrium Health is also a leading-edge innovator in virtual care and mobile medicine, providing care close to home and in the home. Ranked nationally among U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals in eight pediatric specialties and for rehabilitation, Atrium Health has also received the American Hospital Association's Quest for Quality Prize and its 2021 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award, as well as the 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Equity Award for its efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care. With a commitment to every community it serves, Atrium Health seeks to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all, providing $2.8 billion last year in free and uncompensated care and other community benefits.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health serves nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs nearly 155,000 team members across 68 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations and offers one of the nation's largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides nearly $6 billion in annual community benefits.