Thursday, March 28, 2024

Miracle Man

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Four weeks after a near-death experience, Pastor Shane Brooks walked his daughter down the aisle, officiated her wedding and even danced to the Cupid Shuffle.

He almost missed it.

Brooks, pastor of The Bridge Church, survived the “widowmaker” days before Christmas.

“Widowmaker” is an informal term for a heart attack that involves 100 percent blockage in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery.

“When you’re in that moment, you realize you’re in God’s hands. And many others who were in God’s hands were working on me,” Brooks said reflecting on the night his wife rushed him to Lake Granbury Medical Center.

“There were so many miracles, so many people working on my behalf.”

CHANGE IN A HEARTBEAT

There was nothing out of the ordinary when Brooks, 45, and his wife Missy opened Christmas presents with their adult children Saturday evening, Dec. 21.

About 11:30 p.m. he was getting tired and went into the bedroom.

“I was putting away some clothes in the closet and started to feel bad. I felt hollow; it was awful. I walked out of the closet and my arms hurt so bad,” Brooks recalled.

He tucked his arms in close to his body in hopes the pain would go away. Eventually it did, and he and his wife went to bed.

But the pain came back.

“We were laying in bed when my arms starting hurting again and my heart was pounding,” Brooks said.

He was crying from the pain.

“I still didn’t know what was going on, but Missy had the feeling it was serious. She just knew. And she drove me to the hospital.”

THREE THINGS

Brooks said three things saved his life.

First, the family moved from Acton to Indian Harbor several months ago. From Acton, the trip to LGMC could have taken 20 minutes. It took about eight minutes to get to the hospital from their home in Indian Harbor.

Second, his wife had that gut feeling that his condition was serious. “She knew I needed to get to the hospital right away,” Brooks said.

And third, the LGMC cardiac catheterization team was quick to respond. Hospital policy dictates that the call team must respond within 30 minutes of activation. The average arrival time at LGMC is about 15 minutes, according to officials.

Brooks praised the quick actions by the team at LGMC. “They saved my life,” he said. “I didn’t think I would even make it to the hospital.”

If one of those three things were missing from the puzzle, Brooks said he wouldn’t be here today.

REVIVED AND REVIVED

After arriving at the emergency department, Brooks was taken immediately into a room for evaluation.

“You are having a heart attack right now. You’re going to the cath lab,” Brooks was told.

After he was given nitroglycerin pills, Brooks felt a little better and was talking to his family when it hit.

“I looked at the ER guy and said, ‘Something’s wrong.’”

Brooks’s eyes rolled back and the family was ushered out.

“I was in V-fib. It’s when the heart can’t find oxygen and it quits beating,” Brooks said.

Scans made at the hospital showed 100 percent blockage.

“They shocked me back,” he said.

He was puzzled when he opened his eyes and looked around the room at all the people.

In a moment, he realized what was going on. He thought to himself that he wouldn’t make it.

“Don’t let me die!” he shouted.

Things kicked into high gear.

“It was like in the movies when they are wheeling someone quickly down the hall,” Brooks said.

Brooks went into V-fib again and after he was shocked back things were even more surreal.

“The cath team members were like choreographed dancers. It was like poetry the way they worked,” Brooks said.

He described a group that was focused but not rushing.

“They were just efficiently doing their job. I could feel their knowledge. I could feel their skills surround me. They literally had one purpose, one goal, and that was to make sure I lived.”

Brooks remembers Dr. Tony Frerking, cardiologist, telling him that a catheter would be going through an artery to place a stent in his heart and open the blockage.

“He was very calm, and I remember when he told me, ‘We’ve got the blockage cleared,’” Brooks said. “He was incredible. I can’t even explain how good he was and the whole crew.”

Over the next couple of days, three more stents were placed.

Brooks had a feeling of heaviness when he went home from the hospital.

“I was very grateful but also overwhelmed. I wondered why I didn’t die,” Brooks said. “But I can’t live in the what ifs. I need to move forward with a new thought process.”

MUSIC AND MINISTRY

Brooks has been in the ministry for 20 years, but his first career was in music. He started playing guitar at bars when he was 14. His mom drove him to gigs.

“It’s kind of funny to think about how my dad was a Baptist preacher, and the preacher’s wife was driving me to bars,” he said.

Brooks formed a band, and with a record deal from Decca, he released an album, “Stories I Could Tell,” in 1998. He was writing songs, including one recorded by Garth Brooks, and toured with the likes of George Strait and Clay Walker.

But soon the singer-songwriter from Breckenridge felt called to the ministry. He became an ordained minister about 20 years ago and eventually landed in Granbury.

Brooks started an interdenominational church called The Bridge, meeting first at Celebration Hall on the square and now meeting next door at Granbury Live each Sunday.

He smiled and said, “We outgrew Celebration Hall.”

LIFE-CHANGING EVENT

Easing back into his routine, Brooks began working part time about two weeks after his heart attack.

“The skilled people at the hospital saved my life, and they get the thanks, while the glory goes to God,” he said.

Brooks and Missy have three children. Son Blake Coburn, 28, lives in McKinney. Son Aaron Brooks, 21, lives in Fort Worth. Daughter Amanda, 19, is a newlywed living in Granbury with husband Steven Salazar.

There have been some changes for Brooks. He’s watching his sodium and adopted a whole foods, plant-based diet.

LOSING WEIGHT

“My whole life, I’ve been on different diets to try and lose weight. Now, I’m on a diet to get healthy – and I’m losing weight!” Brooks said.

He is working out twice a week in the cardiac rehabilitation program.

In the first four weeks after his hospitalization, Brooks lost 20 pounds and his blood pressure dropped 25 points.

“I promised my wife that I will take better care of myself,” he noted.

Brooks advises people to make changes in their lives when going through hard times.

“I’m going to take my own advice and practice what I preach,” he said.

dschneider@hcnews.com|817-573-7066, ext. 255