During Heart Month, a couple reflects on near-death experience
Jon and Jill Gray hope that others will receive the CPR training that saved his life
July 14, 2024, started like any other day for Jon Gray. A former combat veteran, 49-year-old Jon had recently received a clean bill of health, maintained a healthy diet and exercised regularly. But his routine evening walk with his wife, Jill, would take an unexpected turn.
It had been a hot summer day and a few minutes into their walk, Jon felt dizzy. As he turned to tell Jill, his world went dark.
Jon had suddenly suffered cardiac arrest caused by ventricular fibrillation, a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm. Without immediate treatment, the condition becomes fatal within minutes.
Jon was fortunate that Jill is a cardiac surgery navigator at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital with more than 25 years of experience in the hospital’s intensive Care Unit. She immediately began CPR.
“My entire career felt like a dress rehearsal for that moment,” said Jill, who received quick assistance from two other neighbors. They took turns administering compressions until EMS arrived just minutes later.
There are more than 357,000 EMS-assessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) each year in the United States, according to the American Heart Association, and nearly 90 percent of OHCA’s are fatal. Because of quick action and activating EMS, Jon’s was not one of them.
“I’m a blessed man,” Jon said. “Between that and the quick response of EMS, I’m here today.”
Jon was revived in the ambulance after three rounds of defibrillation on the way to Henrico Doctors’ Hospital. He would spend the next four days at the hospital moving from the ER, to the Cardiac ICU, the cardiac catheterization lab for insertion of a pacemaker and defibrillator device, and finally the cardiac stepdown unit.
A few weeks later, he began cardiac rehab at the hospital three days a week and by October was doing well enough to participate in the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk 5k.
“It was incredibly inspiring to be up and moving again so quickly,” Jon said, noting that his heart function has returned to normal and he is working out daily, which he attributed to the team at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital.
“I truly feel I am a walking miracle and with God’s blessing and the entire HDH cardiac service line are responsible for me walking this great earth today,” he wrote in a letter to the hospital.
For Jill, as frightening as the experience was, it was also rewarding.
“We did not know anything was wrong and never in a million years did we anticipate seeing something like this,” she said.
“I come into the hospital and I’m reminded every day about July 14. The professionalism demonstrated by everyone throughout the entire process was truly remarkable—I was in awe," Jill added. "I am incredibly proud to be part of this program."
Both Jon and Jill hope that their experience will inspire others to receive the CPR training that saved Jon’s life and understand that anyone can be at risk of cardiac disease.
Jill emphasized the critical importance of bystander CPR in the community, highlighting the low survival rate for individuals who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
“Bystander CPR plays a vital role in improving outcomes,” she said. “We are incredibly fortunate—he is young, we have a family, and this lifesaving intervention has given us the gift of many more years together.”
Jon agreed, noting that he is working on implementing a CPR certification at his workplace and raising awareness in the neighborhood.
He said he is thankful each day to Jill and the Henrico Doctors’ Hospital team that life is back to normal – for the most part.
“Jill doesn’t let me walk the dog by myself anymore,” he said with a laugh. “We’re not allowed – we have to be walked.”