Carlos Toro, survived a heart attack and transplant

After a severe heart attack he suffered in 2023, Carlos Toro, 57, was about to die.

“I drove to the hospital. When I got to the hospital they took a scan, it was like five, ten minutes, they already had me in the ambulance sending me to Manhattan. When I got to Manhattan, the doctor was checking me out and putting me to bed. “They told me it was an emergency and he told me I was having a heart attack,” Toro said.

Although he regularly went to the doctor and had tests, high blood pressure, coupled with high cholesterol and a dose of stress, likely caused the heart attack, says Dr. Johanna Contreras of Mount Sinai Hospital. She further points out that after the heart attack, Toro’s heart was irreversibly damaged.

“The most important thing, when people have symptoms of chest pain, tightness in the chest, these are symptoms that are not normal, is to go to the doctor,” said Dr. Johanna Contreras. “Why? Because if I play on the artery before it closes, I can prevent the blood flow from killing the muscle.”

“He even told me. ‘There is nothing more for me,'” the doctor added. I told him ‘no, Carlos, the only thing is that he has a bad heart.’ The kidney was fine, the other organs were fine. ‘Carlitos, we are going to work with medicines and if they don’t work, a new heart.'”

But getting the new heart took five months and four tries. Once ready in the operating room, the operation was cancelled.

“He told me, ‘Carlos, I’m sorry, but it’s not going to happen’, that by explaining things to me they happen for a reason. This time it’s not going to happen, that I can make them wait until the next time. After two months they came in again “They were preparing me, shaving and taking blood. And two hours before they came in again and ‘I’m sorry Carlos, it’s not going to happen,'” Carlos said.

The fourth time was the charm, and the surgery was a success. In more than five months inside the hospital, Carlos Toro won the hearts of all the doctors, nurses and even other patients.

“The nurses who weren’t even on duty came to visit him. I, for example, every time I saw him, every time he came I brought him Crayola colors, I brought him markers, he made us all draw pictures, it really became a real joy.” “added Dr. Contreras.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about 700,000 Americans die from heart disease, however, 80% of cases are preventable.

If you have hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, sleep disorders, sleep apnea, all of these disorders can predict or expose you to a heart attack.

More than five months later with his new heart, Carlos Toro has a better quality of life, he continues to take care of his plants, fish and expand his water source. And enjoying his granddaughter.