Tony Shuff is a busy man, and his Oct. 5 heart attack was not on the fall “to-do” list. His warning signs? • Tired and easily winded • Shortness of breath • Minimal feelings of discomfort around the heart The…
Pete Rafferty, 72, knew from early childhood that he wanted to serve his country. A Springfield native who attended Feishan’s High School, he achieved that dream quickly upon graduation when he enlisted in the U.S. Marines in 1963. He was…
Her granddaughter was the first to notice something was off. When Courtney called from her home in Carbondale, her grandmother, 84-year-old Springfield resident Kathryn Kramer, couldn’t finish sentences. She didn’t remember if she’d eaten, and she was sleeping throughout…
Ruthetta Getchel and her husband, Jack, were a day away from embarking on a trip to Minnesota in July 2014 when Ruthetta awoke in the middle of the night experiencing severe back pain and profuse sweating. Jack quickly drove Ruthetta…
The possibility that she might be having a heart attack only briefly crossed Becky Griffith’s mind. She was, after all, only 40 years old. Last November, the mother of two began to feel severely fatigued and short of breath. While…
Maybe your sweetheart sets your heart a’fluttering or maybe those flutters indicate a potential health issue. Actually, it’s not just folks with a heart condition who can experience arrhythmia, which is a problem with the rate or rhythm of the…
Stents aren’t just for 81-year-old Supreme Court justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently underwent a heart procedure to fix a blockage in her right coronary artery. The senior member of the country’s highest court was exercising when she experienced…
On Oct. 8, 2013, George Rudis began his day the way he always does—with a run at the Sacred Heart-Griffin track. For the 62-year-old Springfield native and lifelong athlete in training for a marathon, everything seemed normal. “I got up…
Not every heart attack or stroke looks like the ones shown on television dramas. Some occur with less prominent symptoms, but all have the potential to be deadly. This infographic helps you learn the warning signs and ideal responses if…
When it comes to overcoming obstacles, Harold Whitnall has faced and conquered it all. A Vietnam veteran who lost his father to emphysema, Harold’s lung has collapsed five times in the past 40 years, beginning when he was 25 years…