Page 150 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

With so many years of active daily broadcasting behind me, Harry Reagan, former
president of the Jacksonville Historical Society, contacted me about interviewing me
about my years with WJXT. After attending legendary sportscaster Dick Stratton’s
funeral in 2005, he realized that many of Jacksonville’s pioneer broadcasters were
passing away without stories of the origin and progression of the media being told.
With the assistance of WJXT Channel 4,
He interviewed a dozen people, including Virginia Atter Keys, Norm Davis and me to
include on the Jacksonville Historical Society website. After a series of informal
meetings with retired broadcasters, the Jacksonville Broadcasters Association was
organized in 2012.

CHAPTER 47 - Near Death Experience

On September 7, 2011, I spent the afternoon trimming bushes and cleaning out my
backyard shed. I had finally taken time to discard many of the old unused items for the
garbage pickup on Thursday. I had no recollection of the rest of that day, nor of the
cleaning out the shed until I learned of it ten days later.

Virginia informed me that I had cooked hamburgers on the grill after taking a shower.
We ate dinner together and she went to the family room to watch TV. Shortly after 10
PM, she said I suddenly dropped to the floor in front of her leaving Callie with her leash
still on. I was not breathing and had no pulse. She immediately called 911 on the house
phone and used her cell phone to call my daughter Wendy, who lives behind us. Her
husband Bob Schwank, arrived within a minute to administer CPR. I learned later that
he was trained in it, but this was the first time he used it. Rescue Unit and Fire Truck
arrived a couple of minutes later to take over treatment and transport me to the hospital.
They radioed ahead to alert Baptist Medical Center of my immediate arrival.

After putting me on a ventilator and taking me through the cath lab, it was determined
that part of my brain was being damaged by lack of oxygen. A stent was placed in one
of my arteries, and my body was chilled to 32 degrees Celsius to reduce further
damage. I was unconscious for five days and five days later was released for rehab at
Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital. Fortunately, I wasn’t weakened as severely as with my
first heart attack and congestive heart failure. With a weakened and damaged heart, I
had to curtail strenuous activities and reduce my yard work to light gardening and
guiding a self-propelled lawn mower and electric edger to keep our lawn trimmed.
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