East Central Reporter

After an emotional year spent facing his own and loved ones’ illnesses, Ashmore's Alan Alford, 59, has emerged from an intense medical crisis stronger than ever — and ready to help others attain better health.

If it weren’t for treatment at Sarah Bush Lincoln, he said, he might not be here to tell his tale.

After suddenly tiring on a routine walk, Alford experienced “crushing chest pains” with radiation down his arms — classic symptoms of a heart attack. When his pain escalated while being seen at Sarah Bush Lincoln, Alford underwent a round of chest compressions, nitroglycerin, defibrillation and finally an airlift to Champaign. There doctors performed emergency surgery to open two blocked arteries with stents, and he ultimately recovered.

For their wedding anniversary several weeks later, Alford’s wife bought him a defibrillator.

Expressing gratitude to caregivers at Sarah Bush Lincoln and other facilities, Alford revealed that his own 37-year-old son died of a heart attack himself in September 2015; additionally, Alford lost two colleagues to heart attacks over the summer.

Alford is now helping others by advocating for heart health. He acted as 2016 spokesperson for the East Central Illinois Heart Walk held recently at Eastern Illinois University and wants to help raise awareness of heart health and preventive strategies using diet and exercise.

In addition, he attends cardiac rehab classes offered by Sarah Bush Lincoln through its Monitored Exercise Testing Services (METS), has given up Coca-Cola and has lost 20 pounds. He sees a cardiologist for follow-up care.

“I’ve tried to adopt many of the things they recommend in class, like reducing the amount of sodium I’m taking in and reading food labels,” he said. “I actually ate cauliflower the other day, and it wasn’t bad. That was new for me.”