Quick intervention and comprehensive heart care led to Matt’s full recovery

At 39-years-old, the last thing on Matt’s mind was a heart attack. “At 39, you don’t even question your heart health,” he says.

However, while working on heavy machinery at his job, he suddenly collapsed from a heart attack and fell off a ladder. Emergency services responded quickly and transported him to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, where his condition was critical.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Matt was placed under the care of John Finley, MD, an interventional cardiologist and director of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital. “Matt was as sick as they come,” Dr. Finley says. “He suffered from a major heart attack affecting the front wall of his heart, leading to heart failure.”

Dr. Finley and his team immediately began life-saving interventions, including medications and mechanical ventilation, while working to open the blocked artery that caused the heart attack.

“I definitely feel very comfortable here,” says Matt, reflecting on how Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital offered him the same quality of care he might expect from larger medical centers. He also appreciated how the hospital’s staff was directly involved and invested in his recovery. “You don’t feel like a small fish in a big pond,” he says.

“The main thing I can say is, they fixed me. They saved my life,” – Matt W.