Deborah Williams was worn out the Sunday after her 50th high school reunion but decided to go to church anyway — a choice that may have saved her life.
“My body was saying sit down,” the 75-year-old recalls from the morning she suffered a heart attack. “What better place to be when you don’t feel well than church?”
It turns out a hospital was the best place to be, and Deborah was rushed to Methodist Charlton Medical Center after a cardiologist in her Oak Cliff congregation called 911.
“For me, Methodist Charlton was everything,” she says. “They saved my life.”
‘WHITE AS A GHOST’
The night before her heart attack, Deborah had just returned to her home in Arlington from Wisconsin, but she was determined to go to church in Dallas.
She and her husband arrived at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship early that morning. After a trip to the bathroom, she became lightheaded and needed to sit down. A woman she didn’t know saw Deborah and stopped in her tracks.
“The lady looked at me and said, ‘You’re as white as a ghost,’” Deborah recalls. “Then she told someone to go get her medical bag from the car.”
What she didn’t realize was that this was no ordinary church member; it was a pediatric cardiologist. The doctor checked her pulse, gave her an aspirin, and quietly dialed 911.
“I remember telling the paramedics to take me out the back, because it was children’s Sunday, and I didn’t want them to see it,” she says, reflecting on the day her life changed.
Modern pacemakers are smaller than a matchbox and can be implanted under the skin while a patient is awake.
LOW HEART RHYTHM
When Deborah arrived at Methodist Charlton by ambulance, tests revealed she had suffered a heart attack, and her heart rate had dropped to a dangerously low rhythm. Doctors recommended a pacemaker, which would keep her heart beating steadily.
“She developed slow heart rates that resulted in symptoms of lightheadedness and fatigue,” explains Amit Guttigoli, MD, cardiologist on the medical staff at Methodist Charlton.
Dr. Guttigoli told her she would need to stay awake while he implanted the pacemaker.
“Awake?” she recalls, laughing now. “That’s not what I expected. But I trusted him.”
Dr. Guttigoli says the procedure is quick and simple, with patients under moderate sedation: “Quite often, patients are awake and talking.”
The procedure went smoothly, and Deborah remembers Dr. Guttigoli being pleased with his work.
“Isn’t this a beautiful job?” she recalls him saying, and she joked back: “I want to see, too!”
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CARED FOR ‘LIKE FAMILY’
Hours after her surgery on a Monday morning, Deborah was sitting up in her recovery room with her husband and daughter by her side.
“The staff was amazing,” she says. “They cared for us like family. My daughter even sent the biggest edible arrangement she could order to thank the team.”
After one night of observation, Deborah walked out of Methodist Charlton and was ready to attend Bible study by Wednesday.
“The pastor told everyone to pray for me,” she says, smiling. “When I turned around in my pew, they all just smiled. I was already out of the hospital.”
Deborah credits many people for her recovery, including a fellow church member who’s also a cardiologist.
OUTLIVING HER PACEMAKER
Deborah recently received a new pacemaker after doctors noticed the battery had run low.
Despite it all, she remains as active as ever. She exercises five days a week, walks her two dogs, and travels the country with her husband.
“The pacemaker hasn’t slowed me down,” she says. “It helps me keep going.”
She credits her church, her medical team, and the Methodist Charlton staff for her speedy recovery. Her message for others with an ailing heart is simple: Listen to your body.
“If something feels off, don’t brush it aside,” she says. “My mom was a nurse, and she always told me, ‘You know your body better than anyone. Pay attention.’”
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