I was working late as a corporate attorney at a financial printer’s office in Midtown Manhattan on June 8, 2005 when I suffered a sudden cardiac arrest without warning. At the time, I was 27 years old, an active athlete in otherwise good health, and it was not my first late night working or studying. I do not remember anything that happened for the next 36 hours, but the following account of the aftermath of my sudden cardiac arrest has been reported to me and confirmed by others who were there.

Although I was alone in the room where I had been working, a colleague in the adjacent room heard my chair fall and rushed in to find me unconscious on the floor. Another colleague, who was trained in administering CPR, began performing chest compressions and rescue breaths, while yet another colleague called "911". Within minutes, a security guard from the building arrived with an automated external defibrillator ("AED"). He applied the AED pads on my chest as directed, and the AED administered an electrical shock that recharged my heart.

I remained unconscious while the emergency responders arrived and transported me to the emergency room at NYU Medical Center. Meanwhile, a policeman had called my girlfriend (now wife) to tell her what had happened. She rushed to the hospital where she patiently answered the doctors’ questions about my medical history. It was when she informed one resident about my congenital hearing loss in my left ear that the NYU staff began to see a possible connection between my sudden cardiac arrest and the Jervell and Lange-Nielson QT syndrome, a genetic heart defect that is a type of Long QT affecting those who are hearing-impaired. With this information, the NYU medical staff knew how to treat my condition effectively. Two days later, surgeons implanted an internal cardiac defibrillator (“ICD”). Less than a week after my sudden cardiac arrest, I was released from the hospital and ready to resume my life, as mentally capable as I had been before my sudden cardiac arrest and now equipped with an ICD to protect me in the event that my heart should go into ventricular fibrillation again.

What amazes me is the confluence of events and circumstances that led to my survival and complete recovery. I was blessed to have colleagues who were trained in CPR and capable of taking quick action as they had been instructed. That I received immediate CPR was critical to my full recovery because the CPR enabled the continued flow of oxygen to my brain. Even more important was the AED shock that I received within minutes of my sudden cardiac arrest. I was incredibly fortunate because the AED only recently had been installed in the building, and the security guard only recently had been trained in using the AED. Also, I was the happy recipient of excellent medical care from the NYU medical staff that I continue to enjoy, along with the benefits of advanced medical technology.

My ICD is hardly noticeable and rests just under my skin below my left shoulder. My ICD acts as a safeguard, constantly monitoring my heart rate as my heart beats on its own. In the event of cardiac arrhythmia, my ICD is designed to regulate my heart rate, and in the event of ventricular fibrillation, my ICD will administer a shock to restart my heart. My ICD has yet to fire, and it may never fire, which is a sign both of the effectiveness of the beta blockers that I take every day and the explosiveness of Long QT.

Long QT is a time bomb that can go off at any moment. For those who are aware that they have Long QT, it can be easily treated and protected against by implanting an ICD and taking beta blockers. But for those like me who had no warning that they are susceptible to sudden cardiac arrest and who generally are in good health, the Long QT syndrome can be deadly. That is why I am grateful that organizations like C.A.R.E. are increasing awareness about sudden cardiac arrest, encouraging people to be trained in CPR, and spearheading efforts to install AEDs in public areas. Please join me in supporting C.A.R.E. so that more stories can end as happily as mine did.