On Dec. 28, while working in a tile shop in Burnsville, Flor, 53, suffered chest pains. Calling out for his co-workers, Flor started the process that saved his life. They drove him to a nearby medical clinic, where an ambulance was waiting for him. He had only moments to live.

In the ambulance, Flor’s heart stopped three times, and each time, the emergency medical services (EMS) crew was able to revive him. Calling ahead to Fairview Southdale Hospital, the crew alerted Stephen Battista, M.D., and the primary angioplasty team to be ready. The timing had to be right if they were to save Flor’s life.

In the emergency room, Flor went into cardiac arrest four additional times, and each time his medical team was able to bring him back, but they knew they were running out of time. Blood wasn’t flowing to Larry Flor’s heart. “In essence, the artery that supplies blood to his heart was blocked,” Battista said.

The emergency room staff worked furiously to stabilize Flor. Time was critical to get his artery open to restart blood flow to his heart. Dr. Battista rushed him to the catheterization lab so his team could insert a stent into the artery. The stent acts like scaffolding, holding the artery open so blood can flow again.

“At that point,” says Batista, “his left coronary artery was completely blocked and leaking blood to the main pumping chamber of his heart.” From the time Larry Flor entered the Fairview Southdale Hospital emergency room until his artery was cleared, only 40 minutes had passed. The national average is 90 minutes.

“Everyone really did a remarkable job of pulling together to save this patient’s life,” Battista said. Normally, four health care professionals work together to open a patient’s artery, but in this case, 10 people worked on Flor in the lab, not to mention dozens in the emergency room, the EMS staff in the ambulance, the professionals at the clinic and his fact-acting co-workers at the tile shop.

The EMS staff picked the right hospital to bring Flor. Ranked in the top 1 percent in the nation for heart attack survival rates, Fairview Southdale’s primary angioplasty program is part of the Minnesota Heart and Vascular Center.

Now recovering, Flor remembers having to call his family.  “The first call to my daughter was really scary for her,” he said, “ but the nurses and Dr. Battista were really comforting. They spent a lot of one-on-one time with her explaining exactly what was going on. There were even times when I was too weak to take a drink of water myself, the nurses were more than helpful – it’s the little stuff that really makes a terrible time more bearable.”

Now, Flor says that he feels like a million bucks. “Dr. Battista told me that if I wanted to continue to live, I have to change my lifestyle.” Since his near death experience, Flor has quit smoking, eats a healthy diet and exercises on a regular basis. “Having a massive heart attack is a pretty good wake up call.”

For more information about heart disease, contact the Minnesota Heart and Vascular Center at 952-924-2300.

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