Sam’s Heart Attack: $105K Medical Debt Relief

Hi! My name is Angela and I am married to Sam. We’ve been married for almost 8 years now and have 2 beautiful kids and 1 on the way and due in October 2025. In September 2023, Sam went to the ER with chest pains. He struggled at the time with acid reflux and thinking the pain could’ve been from that, but it was more painful than usual. We talked with a cardiologist after doing some testing and he sent Sam home telling him to take Prilosec daily. Sam still had some chest pains, but trusted the doctor that it was nothing more than that. Move to March 11, 2024. It was 5am in the morning and Sam woke me up holding his chest saying he was having really bad pains again. We went downstairs so we wouldn’t wake our kids. Every minute that went by, the pain was more and more. Tingly arms, pain in his back. He then was falling to the ground holding his chest, it was unbearable. I was getting ready to call an ambulance to come get him as we both suspected he was having a heart attack. Instead he grabbed his keys, wallet & bible and left. Thankfully we only live 12 minutes from the local hospital. He made it to the front entrance where they immediately took him back and started an EKG. They right away said “Sir you’re having a heart attack” and took him to the back. He stayed on FaceTime with me so I know he made it safe and let me know what was going on. Yes, I wasn’t too happy he drove himself, but I know that God was protecting him and with him. I had texted my mom to come be with the kids so I could come to the ER so while she was on her way I stayed on the phone with Sam. I tried not to stress or ask too many questions. I asked one of the nurses I could see right by him and asked if he was for sure having a heart attack. The Chaplain then talked to me on the phone and said “ma’am get here asap you’re husband is having a massive heart attack”. My mom finally arrived to be with our kids at our house and I took off. I met the Chaplain at the front entrance doors of the ER where she took me upstairs. She said Sam was in surgery and the doctor would come out and let me know either way after surgery. Those were the scariest words I had ever heard. An hour later the cardiologist came out to take to me and Sam’s parents. We were told he had 100% blockage in his heart and he said a Stemi (massive) heart attack and they had to put 2 stents in. He had said his “electrical system” as they call it was shutting down and he was minutes away from passing. He formed a clot in his heart in his left ventricle from the blockage and it caused wall motion abnormality. He stayed in the hospital for 8 days. Just an overview of this past year we’ve dealt with so many medications, diet changes, lifestyle changes, etc. we asked “why did this happen?” Sam was only 35 years old, construction worker and healthy and they had no answer. He just had a physical the week before and everything was good. I did a little research and when he did go to the hospital in September 2023, it did look like from his Troponin levels he had a small heart attack. We were never informed that some of his levels weren’t right and never informed to seek further treatment. I’ve talked to multiple lawyers to try and help us get this figured out and they all said heart related issues are too hard to cover. Sam did received the Covid vaccine in 2020 as we were not going to go with the vaccine, but just had our son and we were told if Sam and I did not get the vaccine we could not return to our pediatrician. It was full blockage that caused his heart attack so it could’ve been from the vaccine or could not of we will never know. 6 months after Sam’s heart attack the blood clot did dissolve. They wanted to put in a pacemaker, but we opted out. We got him off all the hard medicine and he is doing great with a diet, lots of vitamins and trusting God. I do believe that’s the reason Sam is here and we will continue to trust him through all of this. The thing I find awesome is Sam didn’t grab much, but he did grab his Bible and held it tight and did not stop praying while he was experiencing the attack. Sam and I own a small home remodeling business and have for 7 years now. With this heart attack it put him back from work and lots of medical bills. With owning a small business we pay for our own insurance. In January 2024 we joined Medi-share which is a Christian health network. We were told after his heart attack all his bills would be covered, but then months later found out they are not covering any of it. We are now trying to figure out how to pay $105,000 back in his medical bills. I tried to get on a payment plan and they wanted $1,600 a month minimum which is something we couldn’t afford being a small business. They are now trying to move it over to collections and not willing to take smaller payments. We are just praying and trusting God with this whole process and still dealing with all of this a year and a half later. Any donations would be greatly appreciated. I have paid small amounts here and there, but they are wanting bigger payments at this point. Anything helps and we will continue to trust him. Thank you!