A lot had to go right for Kyle Wheeler to survive the day he collapsed beside the road in Southlake with an irregular heartbeat that led to cardiac arrest.
“I know I’m lucky to be here. So many things could have gone wrong,” says the retired accountant from Keller. “A Southlake police officer told me a woman had seen me collapse and called 911.”
That woman was Emily Hartley, a good Samaritan who performed the first in a series of lifesaving interventions that led Kyle to Methodist Southlake Medical Center, where a team of doctors and nurses were ready and waiting to help Kyle.
“I just thought the care was exceptional,” says the 66-year-old, who suffered a heart attack 22 years ago. “It was pretty amazing.”
His wife, Mary, also appreciated the care the staff showed her on one of the toughest days of her life.
“When I arrived at Methodist Southlake, I was greeted by the chaplain, David Impwi,” Mary says. “It was so welcoming and so warm and so appreciated at a time that was so difficult.”
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VOICEMAIL CAUGHT IT ALL
Kyle, 66, had a doctor’s appointment that morning in November 2024 when he overshot a turn and bumped into a retaining wall in a Southlake neighborhood. He immediately got out of his car to assess any damage and call his wife to tell her what happened.
But his call went to voicemail just as he lost consciousness and collapsed beside his vehicle, and his wife would hear much of what happened next, including Emily’s call to 911.
“As soon as I put my car in park, he just went as stiff as a board,” Emily says. “When I saw him fall without trying to catch himself, I knew something was wrong.”
Paramedics communicate with hospital staff while on the way, so the cath lab knows what to expect.
While Emily was on the phone with 911, another woman who was passing by stepped in to perform CPR immediately.
“Those women saved my life,” Kyle says. “When I got out of the hospital, the EMT told me that if it wasn’t for the CPR, I could have died.”
What Emily didn’t know was that while she was helping Kyle, Mary was receiving a voicemail message that had recorded the whole thing.
“I was at work when I heard the voicemail,” Mary says. “That’s when I looked at the Find my Friends app on my phone and saw Kyle was in the hospital.”
LIFESAVING IMPLANT
When Kyle arrived at Methodist Southlake, one of his arteries was completely blocked, shutting off the body’s main supply of oxygen-rich blood, says Anas Alomar, MD, cardiologist on the medical staff.
“We were able to rule out a heart attack,” Dr. Alomar says, “but a coronary angiogram showed total occlusion of his right coronary artery.”
The team in the cardiac catheterization lab quickly restored the blood flow, but further testing determined that Kyle’s left ventricle was only pumping at 35% to 40% efficiency, a condition known as ventricular fibrillation (V-fib). He would need an implant to help steady his heartbeat.
“He underwent a lifesaving ICD placement,” Dr. Alomar says, referring to an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, which uses electric pulses to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm. “This device would do exactly what EMS did, even when Kyle is by himself, potentially saving his life if this happened again.”
Once Kyle had recovered from surgery, his focus was on everyone who saved him. He and Mary both credit the medical team at Methodist Southlake for their exceptional care.
“I’m so grateful,” he says. “Looking back, I couldn’t have been in better hands.”
Kyle and Mary won’t take their quality time, on vacation or otherwise, for granted.
HEALING AND GRATITUDE
Kyle says he’s grateful to be back home with his wife and is healing well. If this experience taught him anything, he says, it’s to cherish the little things.
“I just have to be grateful because this accident could have been so much worse,” he says.
Mary took away her own lesson from the experience.
“If anything, this taught me not to take any time for granted,” she says. “You never know what the day is going to bring.”
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