July 25, 2025
“My story started off very abruptly and unexpectedly,” said Daniel Poe, 45 of Watson, LA.
It was Thursday, May 2, 2024. Daniel was going about his regular workday in Gonzales, LA, when he went out for lunch. He grabbed a chicken sandwich and came back to the office. After eating, he felt something unusual.
“Then right after lunch, I noticed I had extreme indigestion or what I thought was indigestion … I’ve never had indigestion this strong,” Daniel questioned while it was happening. “It was right in the middle of my chest, and next thing you know I started sweating.”
His coworkers noticed his distress and quickly alerted his sister and brother-in-law, who also worked with him. His sister looked at him with concern and said, “I think you’re having a heart attack.”
Daniel was in disbelief. “I never would have thought, especially at my age, having never had health issues or been on prescription medication, that I would be having a heart attack.”
Then, a tingling sensation spread through his arms. His family called 911.
When the Gonzales Fire Department arrived, they performed an electrocardiogram (EKG), which confirmed that Daniel was having a heart attack. Paramedics rushed him into the ambulance and took him to Baton Rouge General (BRG).
Dr. Phillip Smith, interventional cardiologist at Cardiovascular Institute of the South in Baton Rouge, prepared for an emergency procedure as Daniel was rushed to the operating room. As Daniel laid on the table, fear set in.
“Am I going to live? Am I going to die? What’s going to happen?” he thought. Everything was happening so fast, and he struggled to process it all.
Dr. Smith and his team acted quickly, inserting a catheter into Daniel’s arm to access his coronary arteries. As soon as the catheter reached his heart, they found the cause of his attack—a 99% blockage in a major artery.
Then, the unthinkable happened. Daniel’s heart stopped. For 40 minutes, Daniel was in cardiac arrest.
Dr. Smith and his team refused to give up. They performed continuous chest compressions, ensuring blood continued to circulate. They administered an automated external defibrillator (AED) shock and shocked him 43 times, determined to restart his heart.
“They fought for me. They did everything feasibly possible to not only save my life but ensure the best outcome. They kept blood moving in my body to preserve my organs and my brain.”
After relentless effort, they finally restored a rhythm. Daniel was stabilized and moved to the ICU.
When Daniel woke up, he was disoriented, a breathing tube still in place. Doctors and nurses surrounded him, testing his reflexes, checking his vitals, and waiting to see if he had suffered any lasting effects. The disbelief in the room was palpable. One doctor stared at him, stunned. “I don’t understand what I’m seeing,” he muttered. Daniel, though still groggy, managed a small smile.
“All I can do is give all the credit to the Lord because, you know, obviously it wasn’t me,” Daniel said. “Dr. Smith saved my life.”
Dr. Smith informed Daniel’s family that while his life had been saved, the time his heart had stopped could lead to severe complications, including potential organ damage or brain injury. His family was overjoyed that he had survived but feared what might come next.
Then, something astonishing happened.
“When I woke up the next morning, no one could believe it. Not only was I awake and talking, but I didn’t have any other health issues. Everyone was shocked—they were calling me the miracle child at the hospital.”
Throughout Daniel’s hospital stay, Dr. Smith remained closely involved, checking in often to ensure his recovery stayed on track. As Daniel prepared for discharge, Dr. Smith spoke with him about next steps and long-term follow-up.
That continuity of care—and the personal attention Daniel felt throughout—left a lasting impression, reinforcing his trust in Dr. Smith and the care team.
But Daniel’s recovery didn’t end there. For him, there were two recovery processes.
The first started right after his initial heart attack. Dr. Smith saved his life, inserted stents, and Daniel spent a week in the hospital. He was advised to take time off from work and was enrolled in cardiac rehab at BRG for three days a week to help exercise his heart. This first recovery phase lasted about three months.
“Dr. Smith stayed on top of everything the whole way—collecting the data, analyzing progress, making sure I was on track.”
Once Daniel had recovered from his initial procedure, Dr. Smith ordered a Cardiac PET-CT scan to take a closer look at how blood was flowing through his heart. The scan showed that the stents were working well and keeping the treated areas open. However, it also revealed that Daniel still had other areas of significant blockage in his heart that were more widespread and not well-suited for stenting. After reviewing the results, Dr. Smith recommended bypass surgery as the best next step to improve blood flow and support Daniel’s long-term heart health.
Dr. Smith referred him to Dr. Michael Weaver, a cardiothoracic surgeon at BRG, to perform the surgery. Daniel recalled, “Dr. Weaver was amazing. He took the time to sit down with me, draw everything out, and explain the surgery step by step. I was really impressed with how thorough he was.”
The bypass surgery was a success, but the recovery took time. “It was the same recovery process as before, cardiac rehab,” Daniel said. “I had to take about four or five weeks off of work.”
Since then, Daniel’s heart health has remained strong. “Dr. Smith is completely confident in my heart,” Daniel said. “If you look at my heart function compared to the normal range, I’m still in the upper part of it. My heart is doing great.”
Daniel is incredibly grateful for the care he’s received. “I feel blessed to have been in the hands of Dr. Smith, Dr. Weaver, and the teams at Cardiovascular Institute of the South and Baton Rouge General. Their professionalism, skill, and unwavering support from day one have been beyond anything I could have hoped for.”
Looking back, Daniel realized there were warning signs he hadn’t recognized. He had visited his general practitioner months earlier for a routine checkup, where his blood pressure was slightly high. The doctor didn’t immediately prescribe medication, opting instead to monitor it over time, so Daniel began tracking his blood pressure at home. He also recalled other minor symptoms he had overlooked—occasional heartburn, slight fluid retention in his legs, and brief moments of abnormal heartbeats. “I never thought those could be signs, but now I realize my heart was trying to tell me something,” he admitted. “You have to be in sync with your body because heart disease can sneak up on you. It’s a silent killer.” That hindsight has shaped his mission moving forward—to help others avoid what he went through.
Daniel now emphasizes the importance of regular checkups and blood work to others. “I wish somebody had told me how crucial it is to get annual checkups. You feel young, you feel healthy, but things can be happening inside your body without you knowing. Blood work is critical—it can show sugar issues, cholesterol issues, and other things before they become a bigger problem. If I had done that regularly throughout my adult life, I might have avoided this.”
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