Eckarts are grateful to celebrate 55 years of marriage
THANKFUL - Sharon and Norman Eckart are extremely greatful for the top notch care Norman received from the New Richland Ambulance Department, the staff at the Mankato Hospital, and everyone else who was there to help. (Star Eagle photo by Eli Lutgens)
By ELI LUTGENS
Editor
“Don’t take tomorrow for granted.” According to Sharon and Norman Eckart, “Tomorrow is not given today.”
The Eckarts had a wake-up call last week. “At around midnight Norm fell down,” said Sharon. “And then again at three. We thought it was just his diabetes acting up, so I got him some orange juice.”
Around six in the morning Norm woke up and fell down again. This time he hit his head. According to Sharon, this was when they knew something was wrong. “I called my kids,” said Sharon. “They’re both former first responders, and they came over right away. We called the ambulance and they were here in no time flat.”
“I remember thinking, if he makes it to the hospital, it’ll be a miracle,” remarked Sharon. “‘Are we gonna make it to our 55th anniversary?’” was one another thought on the way to the hospital.
But Norm did make it to the hospital. With little time to spare. Once they got to the hospital, Sharon remembers walking in and hearing, “Code blue 14.” And Sharon knows that Code 14 is code for a heart attack. Right after that the nurse who checked them in walked over and handed Sharon a sticker that said her husband was in room 14.
What happened was scary, not only for Sharon and Norman, but also for the staff at the hospital. “I gave that nurse the scare of her life,” remarked Norman. “When I came to, I yelled, ‘What are you doing!’ I don’t remember anything after getting to the hospital until coming to with a nurse pounding on my chest. Apparently the nurse has never seen someone come back like that.”
A person is considered dead when their heart rate drops below 20. That’s what happened to Norm. “It felt like I just got hit by Mike Tyson,” according to Norm.
Often, a person who gets brought back through CPR, in this case, they used the “LUCAS” machine, to perform the chest compressions, will suffer chest injuries, including possible broken ribs. The nurse told Norm afterwards that he must have a very strong upper body because he didn’t even suffer any bruising.
Norm spent four days in the ICU recovering. They immediately put in a temporary pacemaker after the heart attack, before discussing his options two days later.
“The doctor came in and told me I had three options,” said Norm. “Option number one, we put in a permanent pacemaker. Option two, we don’t put one in, and you spend the rest of your life in bed, however long that would be. Option three, we do nothing and you die tomorrow, “I think I’ll take option number one, doc,” responded Norm.
Part of the decision process was determining if Norm’s heart would operate without the help of a pacemaker. It was determined, by turning the temporary one off and then on again, that his heart would not work without assistance.
The surgery went well and Norm is doing well. The healing process is a slow one. According to Norm, the hardest part is the restrictions on the use of his left arm. “I can’t lift my arm above my shoulder. If I do, the electrodes in my pacemaker will disconnect and that will be it, I would die.”
Once the scar tissue has time to form, Norm will regain more movement with his arm. Until then, he is restricted from carrying more than five pounds of weight and according to Sharon, isn’t allowed to pour the milk anymore.
“She’s the warden and I’m the inmate,” remarked Norm jokingly. “She’s really good about making sure I follow the protocols. She used to remark that I was so grumpy before, because I was always so tired. Well now we know, I literally didn’t have the energy.”
Prior to this incident, Norm was on blood pressure medicine to keep his heart rate down, in order not to overwork his heart. They were not doing him any favor with his meds. “My legs felt like they weighed 100 pounds each,” remarked Norm. “I would have to mow the lawn in three sections because I couldn’t get through it in one. I used to be faster than anyone else in the house, even the grandkids.”
It turned out that Norm wasn’t getting enough blood to all the parts of his body, and the blood pressure medicine was a factor.
An important detail that shouldn’t be omitted is that Sharon and Norm were not supposed to be home on this particular day. They were supposed to be on vacation. If things had gone according to plan, then at 6 a.m. on that particular day, Sharon and Norm would have been on their boat, in the middle of Lake Osakis. Nowhere near a hospital. According to Sharon, if things had gone according to their plans, Norm wouldn’t be here today.
“We know God had a part in this, and that this was his plan, not ours,” remarked Sharon.
Both Eckarts are extremely grateful to everyone who helped throughout this process. “Every time I got the chance to thank someone at the Mankato hospital, I jumped at the chance,” remarked Sharon. “With everything going on right now in the world, those people are heroes for coming to work every day and doing their jobs.”
According to Sharon, “The New Richland ambulance department is amazing. That’s one of the great things about living in a small town. The ambulance doesn’t have to come from two miles out. They come from two blocks away, or in this case, just two houses down.” (Monica Shutrop, the EMT who responded to the call, lives just down the street from the Eckarts.)
“I think it would be safe to say that Monica (Schutrop) saved my life,” said Norm. “How she kept me awake the whole way to the hospital is a miracle. She must have slapped me in the face, talked dirty to me, or made me laugh. I don’t know for sure, but if she hadn’t kept me awake all the way to the hospital, I wouldn’t have made it.”
“I don’t encourage speeding, but Sam Morgan must have driven 90 mph to get Norm there in time,” said Sharon. “They were all so incredible. The New Richland ambulance department and Police Department are amazing. Also the female officer arrived within just a few minutes to also assist.”
“It makes you put things in perspective,” according to Norm. “Don’t use any more excuses to not do something. If you want to do something, make plans and do it. There is no given tomorrow.”