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PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

John Luksa
National Sales Director

Do You Have Enough

Life Insurance?

ave you ever wondered if you had enough As they put on the anesthesia mask over my nose and
life insurance for the ones you love the mouth asking me to count backwards from 100, all I could
most? Let me share a personal story. I was think of were the answers to those questions. As the
33 years old, and my wife and I were expect- world started to fade around me, my answers were yes
H ing our first child. It was 9 am on a typical to all the questions. But even though I knew there was a
Tuesday morning. I was in a business meet- better place for me if things didn’t work out and that I had
ing going over company goals, and out of nowhere, a enough insurance for Teri to keep our same lifestyle, I truly
cold sweat came over me and my heart was beating very wished I had more life insurance on myself.
quickly. There came a point where I felt like my heart was As I woke from what seemed like one second to eterni-
going to beat out of my chest. Excusing myself from the ty, the nurse asked me my name and my age. I responded
meeting, I had a coworker drive me to the ER. Once there, with, “My name is John Luksa and I am 19 years old!” That
they hooked me up to an EKG machine and it was deter- answer prompted many laughs in the OR as I was 33 years
mined that my heart was beating at a high, irregular pace. old. The nurse responded with a chuckle, “Welcome back!”
My wife Teri, who was four months pregnant at the time, In the months to follow, I was tested by cardiologist that
came into the room with tears in her eyes. confirmed I had a healthy heart. The doctors attributed my
After attempting a few non-invasive options such as in- experience to stress, caffeine and high blood pressure.
gesting Niacin pills and other medical suggestions, noth- Coming from a family with a history of high blood pres-
ing seemed to be working to bring my heartbeat back to sure and cholesterol, I decided to work with my doctors
normal levels. After some time, the doctor came in and ex- on reducing those risks. I was placed on a program that
plained to us that the heart is a pump made up of muscle controlled my blood pressure and cholesterol which I’m
tissue that is regulated by an electrical system. He said still on today. I also made some lifestyle changes which
that right now there’s a lot of electrical activity around your included: exercise, drinking decaffeinated tea, exploring
heart and we need to push the reset button. So we asked new activities/hobbies to relax, and spending more time
the question, “What does that mean and what are the next with family and friends.
steps?” The doctor said, “Well we need to do a defibrilla- Although at the time of my experience it felt like a curse,
tion of your heart and then our hope is your body’s natural it truly ended up being a blessing. It gave me a second
pacemaker will be reestablished with a normal rhythm.” I chance to be more present to my loved ones and the abil-
answered, “So you are going to stop my heart, so that it ity to reassess the true protection and legacy I wanted to
can start again with a normal heartbeat?” The doctor’s re- leave them in my absence.
sponse was, “Yes, we will put you out and then defibrillate GCU has a very strong portfolio of life products to
you. When you come out of the anesthesia, your heart choose from to meet our members’ protection needs.
should be back to normal.” When was the last time you asked yourself if you have the
Many things go through your head when you are faced right amount of protection in place to protect your loved
with uncertainty. Is my soul ready? Do I have enough life ones? Reach out to your GCU agent today for a quick as-
insurance? Will my wife and unborn child be financially se- sessment of your family’s needs.
cure if I don’t wake up?

GCU MAGAZINE AUGUST 2025 7