Bruce Ling and the Emergency Triple Bypass Surgery
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Community leader, musician, storyteller, and self-employed electrician Bruce Ling underwent emergency triple bypass open heart surgery on January 26, 2020. The surgery was a success!! Bruce is restricted from working for 3 months as he recovers.
Fortunately, Bruce has insurance to cover the bulk of the medical expenses.
Unfortunately, being a solo licensed electrician and living job to job, he has no savings to fall back on in order to cover house payments, insurance, storage unit for electrical supplies, additional out-of-pocket medical expenses and all the other costs associated with his day-to-day living.
As well as these expenses, the in-process and future electrical jobs that he lined up, had to be canceled and the start-up deposits refunded, leaving him in a dire situation.
About Bruce:
Bruce Ling and his wife Becca founded the Grand River Watershed Arts and Music Council (www.grwamc.org), a non-profit that seeks to promote environmental and traditional music education throughout West Michigan. In June 2019 they celebrated their 10th annual Grand River Water Festival, a celebratory call to action that attracted festival goers with great music, healthy food, a Kids Activities Tent, and provided environmental information as well as ways to volunteer with non-profits that work on sustainable and environmental initiatives.
Through the Grand River Watershed Arts and Music Council, Bruce created the Mudpuppies environmentally themed after school music program, bringing skilled music educators to inner city schools to teach song writing and drumming. As president of the organization Bruce met with diverse local community leaders to build support and create a coalition of schools, community centers, and non-profits in order to focus this program on where it was most needed. It was fully supported by a Grant from a local philanthropist. The first year was a total success, and everyone looks forward to many more years of this programming.
Bruce has a long history of volunteerism and community engagement from working as a raptor rehabilitator at Blandford Nature Center’s animal hospital, organizing community music sessions for folks of all skill levels, providing affordable electrical work to low income homeowners, and stepping forward whenever he sees a need arise. Bruce provides affordable electrical work to non-profits such as the Community Media Center, Wealthy Theatre, Fountain Street Church, the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, and other community centers of learning.
Musically, Bruce is recognized as a keeper of “Oral Tradition” - Traditional American songs and stories passed down from older generations to the younger ones. He was raised in a musical family, started on guitar at age 4, and made his first $5 playing rhythm guitar in a garage band on the South Side of Chicago. His late teens found him being mentored by older Bluegrass musicians and he began performing with the mandolin and fiddle as well. In 1997 Bruce founded Hawks and Owls string band (www.hawksandowls.com), performing at music festivals, concert performances, and dances across Michigan with his wife Becca and other band members.
There’s a present need for community support in meeting his living costs. Any help is much appreciated.
From Bruce:
Here’s how it all started, on the day before I went into the first hospital.
I’ve had a number of serious near misses in my 63 years, with saves that have no explanation whatsoever. Apparently there are very powerful beings that watch over me that can transcend and move through the different planes of vibrations. Someone stepped through and moved me as I unconscious and was about to drown.
We had just completed a high water event down here on the Grand River, the river was receding back towards her banks and then she froze.
I keep the Flood Gauge for the National Weather Service/NOAA in my backyard here on the Grand River, and I input data into their hydrological website which gives them an idea of trending flood waters. I also advise the NWS as to when to issue a Flood Warning for Comstock Park, Grand Rapids, and the downstream areas. I’ve done this for close to 20 years.
The Grand River had frozen around that Flood Gauge, the river was still receding, but that ice was hung up on the gauge and I could not get a definite reading off of it. So I got on some heavy Neoprene chest waders, grabbed a steel spade shovel, and went out into the yard to cut a 30 foot path from the frozen water’s edge in the yard to the Flood Gauge.
I found it very odd that just walking out to the edge of the ice I was totally out of breath and panting. I began hacking at the ice with the spade shovel and found it to be over an inch thick, much thicker than I expected. It was hard work doing so, and very shortly I felt as though there were two hot spikes driven through both of my shoulders, a band of pain across my chest, and intense pain in the top of my left shoulder running up the left side of my neck. I had felt something similar in the past year, but not so intense as this.
I had to complete this project and so thought to push through this pain business, but as I got near to the Flood Gauge I was starting to feel overwhelming pain. I was a few feet from the Flood Gauge and was not going to cut my way through the ice any further. I wedged my left foot between some rocks on the river bottom to hold my footing, my right rib cage was pushed up against the path that I had cut through the ice, the water was now about 3 inches below the top of my chest waders, and I could feel the push of the current of the Grand River.
As I brought back the shovel with both hands to stab at the ice on the Flood Gauge, the lights in my head begin to dim. I hit that Flood Gauge with that shovel, and saw the ice fall from it just as I lost consciousness. My last thought as all went black, the current grabbed me, and I couldn’t breathe was - I wonder what will come first, death by hypothermia or death by drowning?
And suddenly, it could’ve been a second later, an hour, or an epoch, I felt a terrible pain in my left knee.
That pain seem to jar something in my head, and the lights slowly came back on. I found that I was in knee-deep water, and that the pain in my knee came from me slamming it into the ice in the path that I had just cut. In some strange way I went from chest deep in a fast and frozen river to knee deep and safety, and I cannot explain how I got there.
I walked out of there still panting and made my way up to the house. I got out of my waders and went in and laid down on the sofa for three hours. That’s how long it took me to catch my breath.
Becca arrived home from work, we had dinner, and then sat down to play music to prepare for our Saturday show at the Wealthy Theatre. After our practice I told her about the strange situation that I had had earlier in the day. She was upset that I had not called the doctor, and wanted to know if I needed to go to the emergency room. I told her that I was fine, and I agreed with her that I should call my doctor first thing in the morning.
I ended up going into the hospital on January 21st, had the open heart surgery on the 26th, and came home on February 1st to start my healing process. The suddenness of the cardiac event and the after effects have brought me to a higher plane of awareness that I’d like to share with you as my journey continues.
Thank you in advance for your support,
Bruce and Becca
Fortunately, Bruce has insurance to cover the bulk of the medical expenses.
Unfortunately, being a solo licensed electrician and living job to job, he has no savings to fall back on in order to cover house payments, insurance, storage unit for electrical supplies, additional out-of-pocket medical expenses and all the other costs associated with his day-to-day living.
As well as these expenses, the in-process and future electrical jobs that he lined up, had to be canceled and the start-up deposits refunded, leaving him in a dire situation.
About Bruce:
Bruce Ling and his wife Becca founded the Grand River Watershed Arts and Music Council (www.grwamc.org), a non-profit that seeks to promote environmental and traditional music education throughout West Michigan. In June 2019 they celebrated their 10th annual Grand River Water Festival, a celebratory call to action that attracted festival goers with great music, healthy food, a Kids Activities Tent, and provided environmental information as well as ways to volunteer with non-profits that work on sustainable and environmental initiatives.
Through the Grand River Watershed Arts and Music Council, Bruce created the Mudpuppies environmentally themed after school music program, bringing skilled music educators to inner city schools to teach song writing and drumming. As president of the organization Bruce met with diverse local community leaders to build support and create a coalition of schools, community centers, and non-profits in order to focus this program on where it was most needed. It was fully supported by a Grant from a local philanthropist. The first year was a total success, and everyone looks forward to many more years of this programming.
Bruce has a long history of volunteerism and community engagement from working as a raptor rehabilitator at Blandford Nature Center’s animal hospital, organizing community music sessions for folks of all skill levels, providing affordable electrical work to low income homeowners, and stepping forward whenever he sees a need arise. Bruce provides affordable electrical work to non-profits such as the Community Media Center, Wealthy Theatre, Fountain Street Church, the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, and other community centers of learning.
Musically, Bruce is recognized as a keeper of “Oral Tradition” - Traditional American songs and stories passed down from older generations to the younger ones. He was raised in a musical family, started on guitar at age 4, and made his first $5 playing rhythm guitar in a garage band on the South Side of Chicago. His late teens found him being mentored by older Bluegrass musicians and he began performing with the mandolin and fiddle as well. In 1997 Bruce founded Hawks and Owls string band (www.hawksandowls.com), performing at music festivals, concert performances, and dances across Michigan with his wife Becca and other band members.
There’s a present need for community support in meeting his living costs. Any help is much appreciated.
From Bruce:
Here’s how it all started, on the day before I went into the first hospital.
I’ve had a number of serious near misses in my 63 years, with saves that have no explanation whatsoever. Apparently there are very powerful beings that watch over me that can transcend and move through the different planes of vibrations. Someone stepped through and moved me as I unconscious and was about to drown.
We had just completed a high water event down here on the Grand River, the river was receding back towards her banks and then she froze.
I keep the Flood Gauge for the National Weather Service/NOAA in my backyard here on the Grand River, and I input data into their hydrological website which gives them an idea of trending flood waters. I also advise the NWS as to when to issue a Flood Warning for Comstock Park, Grand Rapids, and the downstream areas. I’ve done this for close to 20 years.
The Grand River had frozen around that Flood Gauge, the river was still receding, but that ice was hung up on the gauge and I could not get a definite reading off of it. So I got on some heavy Neoprene chest waders, grabbed a steel spade shovel, and went out into the yard to cut a 30 foot path from the frozen water’s edge in the yard to the Flood Gauge.
I found it very odd that just walking out to the edge of the ice I was totally out of breath and panting. I began hacking at the ice with the spade shovel and found it to be over an inch thick, much thicker than I expected. It was hard work doing so, and very shortly I felt as though there were two hot spikes driven through both of my shoulders, a band of pain across my chest, and intense pain in the top of my left shoulder running up the left side of my neck. I had felt something similar in the past year, but not so intense as this.
I had to complete this project and so thought to push through this pain business, but as I got near to the Flood Gauge I was starting to feel overwhelming pain. I was a few feet from the Flood Gauge and was not going to cut my way through the ice any further. I wedged my left foot between some rocks on the river bottom to hold my footing, my right rib cage was pushed up against the path that I had cut through the ice, the water was now about 3 inches below the top of my chest waders, and I could feel the push of the current of the Grand River.
As I brought back the shovel with both hands to stab at the ice on the Flood Gauge, the lights in my head begin to dim. I hit that Flood Gauge with that shovel, and saw the ice fall from it just as I lost consciousness. My last thought as all went black, the current grabbed me, and I couldn’t breathe was - I wonder what will come first, death by hypothermia or death by drowning?
And suddenly, it could’ve been a second later, an hour, or an epoch, I felt a terrible pain in my left knee.
That pain seem to jar something in my head, and the lights slowly came back on. I found that I was in knee-deep water, and that the pain in my knee came from me slamming it into the ice in the path that I had just cut. In some strange way I went from chest deep in a fast and frozen river to knee deep and safety, and I cannot explain how I got there.
I walked out of there still panting and made my way up to the house. I got out of my waders and went in and laid down on the sofa for three hours. That’s how long it took me to catch my breath.
Becca arrived home from work, we had dinner, and then sat down to play music to prepare for our Saturday show at the Wealthy Theatre. After our practice I told her about the strange situation that I had had earlier in the day. She was upset that I had not called the doctor, and wanted to know if I needed to go to the emergency room. I told her that I was fine, and I agreed with her that I should call my doctor first thing in the morning.
I ended up going into the hospital on January 21st, had the open heart surgery on the 26th, and came home on February 1st to start my healing process. The suddenness of the cardiac event and the after effects have brought me to a higher plane of awareness that I’d like to share with you as my journey continues.
Thank you in advance for your support,
Bruce and Becca
Organizer and beneficiary
Wendy Johnson
Organizer
Ann Arbor, MI
Bruce Ling
Beneficiary
