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Monday, May 16, 2005

A Miracle Happened Over The Weekend

Over the weekend, a real-life miracle happened that I wanted to share with you which underlines the importance of us continually telling people about the healthy low-carb lifestyle.

A man from my church in his late 30's who has two beautiful little girls was attending one of their ballgames on Saturday morning when he started feeling some pain in his chest. He walked over to his father, who was also in attendance at the game, and asked him what a heart attack felt like. His family has had a history of heart problems, but he didn't think anything could happen to him since he was so young.

But a few minutes later he turned to his wife and asked her to drive him home so he could relax because he wasn't feeling very well. His wife immediately knew something was wrong. On the way home from the ballfield, she decided she needed to stop at the local fire station to see if an EMT was there who could check out her husband's blood pressure and help him if necessary. Before she could get there, though, he suddenly had a massive heart attack and actually died right there in their vehicle.

Frantically entering the fire station parking lot honking the horn and screaming for anyone to respond, this man's wife watched as an EMT came out to her vehicle and used the difibrulator machine to bring her husband back to life before having him transported to the emergency room soon thereafter. It was a harrowing experience for everyone involved, but thankfully this man who had been enjoying a sunny Saturday morning watching his girl play ball is now in stable condition and expected to fully recover.

So what's the miracle in this story besides the fact that he was brought back to life after dying? You see, that particular fire station they stopped at only has an EMT on sight for one day out of the entire year for a demonstration and training session with the firefighters. Guess which day it was? Yep, it was Saturday!

And doctors later revealed he had the heart attack because one of his arteries was completely blocked and had that EMT not administered medical assistance when he did, that completely healthy-looking young man on the outside with a family would not have survived. They were able to put a stint in him to clear up the blockage and allow the blood to flow to his heart normally again.

It is truly a miracle from God who so graciously allowed this man to survive and for the rest of his life he will be thanking Him for sparing him from an early grave. He'll have some testimony to share about this experience for many years to come!

You might be wondering why I shared this story on my low-carb blog. Well, this story really got me thinking about why I am so passionate about the low-carb lifestyle. Is this just a game of which way of eating is right and wrong or is it something that is really making a difference in people's lives? My contention is that the low-carb message is one we need to never stop spreading because it can help so many others not only lose weight, but vastly improve their overall health.

The more I think about it, this story just goes to show you that no matter how healthy someone may look on the outside from a physical standpoint, you never really know what potential ailments may lie beneath the surface. I'm sure his doctor is going to recommend he take measures to lower his cholesterol and reduce his fat intake to prevent something like this from happening again. That's the same old recommendation that doctors have always told their patients who have had heart attacks.

But what about choosing to do the low-carb lifestyle to get healthy? While all the focus regarding low-carb tends to gravitate towards weight loss (and it works very well for that purpose indeed), very little is ever mentioned about how much it can improve your cholesterol, triglycerides and heart health. While the media accentuates the supposed dangers of eating fat while on low-carb, people like me and you are living, breathing examples that this lifestyle is one that greatly improves your heart health.

I don't know what this man from my church is going to do about his eating habits from now on. I suppose he will try to follow the low-fat diet his doctor will undoubtedly recommend. But I hope there will come a day when someone will be able to share with him the healthy alternative that livin' la vida low-carb can be for him so something like this is a lot less likely to ever happen again.

Pray for him, his wife and his two daughters as they go through this difficult time.

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello again Jimmy. Wow what an amazing story for this man and his family! In case you were wondering, me and my wife were able to make it from last monday until most of this past friday. I don't know if we did something wrong or what, but we failed at our attempt at a switch to a low-carb lifestyle. I hate to disappoint you, but no less it happened. I really deep down think this can work if we really want it to. I will be sure and get back with you on this sometime. Thanks again for a great blog and I hope to one day give it another go. God knows me and my wife need it!

5/17/2005 2:06 AM  
Blogger Jimmy Moore said...

Jeff, I'm curious (as I'm sure many of my readers who are long time low-carbers are as well) what you ate during those first few days of doing low-carb. While I admit those first days are the toughest, it is all downhill after that.

I hate to hear you are giving up on it so quickly. My only suggestion would be to take a look at why you couldn't do it and talk with someone (I'm happy to be that person) about how to overcome those struggles.

Livin' la vida low-carb is not hard if it's done right. Many of us can personally attest to the struggle you and your wife are having, but let us help you find the way out of that deep, dark hole you find yourself in.

5/17/2005 9:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jeff, please don't give up so quickly. The benfits you get in the long run are so worth it. My first week of my new lifestyle I was flu like sick from breaking my addiction from sugar, bread and caffine. I was not drinking enough water and almost passed out at the end of the first week. but I knew what was happening to me because I read the Atkins book and he said these things will happen. I get a lot great advice and support from reading the fourms at lowcarbeating.com check it out.
and like Winston Churchill said, "Never give in"

Ed

5/17/2005 1:53 PM  

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