Earlier in 2025 I experienced one of those unexpected days.

Some days just take a turn of their own.

A week ago today the day began much the same as any other, nothing out of the ordinary. After mowing some  of the lawn and moving some landscaping rocks I felt it was time for a rest. 

After resting for a short time I began to realise that there was something out of balance. Heart rate was high, blood pressure was way too high, started to feel really hot and had pain along my arms. I thought I’d said my morning prayers for the last time. So an SOS call to the ambulance.  Prompt response and a paramedic that I had known for some time turned up, that was very reassuring. She quickly had the ECG connected and it looks like a heart related event going on. I began to feel worse than I’d ever felt and thought if this is dying, I don’t want anything to do with it. 

Well, an hour or so later I was in hospital and in the catheter lab having angiograms  looking for the offending blockage in the coronary arteries. Zilch, no blockages found. By this time I almost felt as I usually feel, very well! Next day an ultrasound and an MRI, nothing really conclusive except the usual things one would expect of an old man, nothing immediately life threatening. 

I was then let out of hospital with the advice, “just be wary of what is happening and stop before the same thing happens again’. In other words don’t over do it.

So here I am at home, taking it easy, not over doing it and now learning what the new norm is in my life.

I’m so thankful to get another reprieve in life, thanks to the emergency and trauma care and technology that is now available here in this country.

Two days prior to all this happening I’d updated my training in applying CPR, I  thought how ironic it was that here I was lying there with real live gel pads clinging to my chest just in case I suffered a cardiac arrest.