CARE + COMMUNITY
Shocked Back to Life The train doors at Denver International Airport closed — Bruce Gordon’s palms started to sweat. He hadn’t felt well that day, but this was unusual. “This was the heart attack I was afraid of,” he said. “I knew I only had 30 minutes to get help before it was too late.” As Gordon pushed his way off the train, he thought, “I don’t want to use an elevator because I might die in there and no one will know.” As he stepped onto the escalator, he thought of his wife and two daughters, wanting to tell them “I love you” one last time. He stepped off the escalator and knew there would be a security guard who could help. He threw down his backpack and left his belongings on the floor of the terminal. Gordon told the guard, “I’m having a heart attack, and I don’t have much time left.” Then it all went blurry. Moments later, Gordon was at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) being shocked back to life. It took Bruce’s emergency care physician, Matthew Salzberg, MD, three attempts with an automated external defibrillator to restart his heart. Gordon can recount the final two shocks. “After I felt the second one, I told the doctor ‘I’m done — don’t do this to me anymore.’”
“ I was giving up. I thought
my friends and family had seen me for the last time. ” - Bruce Gordon
Gordon spent the next 21 days in intensive care. His college roommates flew in from California to say goodbye. “I told my brother to walk my daughter down the aisle at her wedding,” Gordon said. “At that point, I was preparing to die.”
2
