A Forest Hills man who dedicates his life to helping hospitalized trauma patients unexpectedly became a trauma patient himself after a frightening medical emergency that nearly killed him. Chris Ortiz essentially dropped dead from sudden cardiac arrest in the middle of his workout at a busy gym. He was rushed to Mount Sinai Queens in grave condition with an 8% chance of surviving, and their doctors quickly jumped into action and saved his life. Now, he is sharing his dramatic and emotional story during American Heart Month (February), emphasizing the importance of recognizing symptoms and knowing CPR, hoping his experience will save someone’s life.
Chris Ortiz, a 60-year-old man from Forest Hills, is a respiratory therapist at a Queens hospital (not Mount Sinai) where he treats intubated trauma patients in the ICU. He never imagined he would end up in this same position.
On July 20, he was working out at the gym when he went into sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed. Bystanders immediately called 911; emergency responders did CPR to get his pulse back and shocked his heart twice to get it pumping again. A Mount Sinai Queens nurse happened to be at the gym when he saw emergency responders arrive and called the heart team to make sure the operating room was ready to go. When Ortiz arrived at Mount Sinai Queens, he was comatose and put on a ventilator. His coronary artery was 100% blocked and doctors rushed him into an emergency cardiac stent procedure with Dr. David Power, an interventional cardiologist, to get his heart pumping.
Doctors were stunned at how bad a shape he was in, but even more stunned at his quick recovery – especially given that he had an 8% chance of survival. Within one day he was off the ventilator. The next day he walked out of the hospital! This is one of the fastest recoveries cardiologists there have seen, especially given his grave circumstance.
Ortiz is stunned that he ended up in this position considering he thought he was healthy. He exercises regularly and teaches boxing. He’s active both at work and outside of work. But looking back on the situation he realizes he felt more tired than usual a few weeks before the scare and simply thought he was getting out of shape due to his age – but this was a symptom of his heart issue. Fatigue is something many people overlook who end up in this position and something that could have cost Ortiz his life. He is so fortunate for the CPR that kept him alive until he got to the hospital for his life-saving procedure.
Doctors say Ortiz had uncontrolled high cholesterol and poor eating habits that triggered this scare. Ortiz had been trying to manage this on his own with diet and exercise and didn’t want to go the route of medication. But after this, Ortiz has been determined to turn his life around. He is now focused on eating fresh fruits and vegetables and avoiding fried food and sticks to a medication plan.
His cardiac arrest happened just four days before his 60th birthday. Ortiz is so grateful to have a new chance at life and watch his young grandchildren grow up. His whole family is in the medical field – his wife and two daughters are nurses – and he’s a respiratory therapist himself. His story is an example that health scares don’t discriminate – and he doesn’t want anyone taking their health for granted. His message this heart month is to see a doctor, make sure your blood pressure and cholesterol are under control, and to take high levels seriously.
