Heartfelt 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Johnny Pethoud and his wife Pam Pethoud are grateful they were able to recently celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary at Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center with sparkling grape juice. Just a few days before, while beginning their celebration at Angel Fire, Johnny started to feel tightness in his chest and have shortness of breath. “We were only at Angel Fire for four hours when I started having chest pains,” said Johnny, who lives in Oklahoma.

He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and then transferred to Santa Fe where it was determined to have sustained a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and found to have 98 to 99 percent blockages of all his three coronary arteries. He was therefore promptly transferred to Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center where he underwent an emergency four-vessel coronary artery bypass surgery. He was treated by Cardiothoracic Surgeon Salim Walji, M.D. “The care we received from Dr. Walji and the staff at Heart Hospital was wonderful,” said Johnny. “We were very impressed with the whole team, and I am alive today because of the Lord and the support of my family."

Johnny is back home in Oklahoma now and is recovering nicely. “I feel great,” he said. “I want to thank the team at Heart Hospital for saving my life.”