On the morning of October 1st, our dad, John, was rushed to the hospital after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest. Doctors discovered that the entire right side of his heart was completely blocked, which forced the left side to overwork. In an incredible display of the body’s resilience, his heart had actually grown two new collateral vessels in an attempt to keep blood flowing.

Yesterday, he was put into a medically induced coma, the doctors took him off sedation and began testing for neurological response. Doctors were unsure if he would have any brain activity after losing oxygen to the brain. After several hours, he was able to follow commands by moving both his left and right foot, which cleared him to move forward with surgery. This gave us hope as he had brain activity. They even stated this morning that he has “remarkable brain activity” considering what he’s been through.

Today, October 2nd, he is undergoing open-heart surgery at 1:00 pm. During this procedure, surgeons are harvesting veins from his leg to form new, unblocked vessels which creates new pathways for blood flow by bypassing his blocked arteries on the right side of his heart. In the same operation he is undergoing a grafting of his heart to close up the two extra vessels his body created. In addition, two of the valves on the left side of his heart are severely damaged and are being repaired.

Anyone who knows John knows the kind of man he is. He is selfless, caring, and always puts others before himself—especially us kids, who mean the world to him. He has always been the rock of our family, and the kind of person who never complains, no matter how hard things get. He is a loyal, hardworking warehouse manager who takes great pride in showing up for his job and his team every single day. It is going to break his heart when he wakes up and realizes he can’t jump out of bed and head straight back to work like he always has. This has all happened so suddenly, and while we are grateful for the incredible care he is receiving, we know the financial stress will weigh heavily on him when he wakes up. John takes so much pride in working hard to provide for his family, and we know it will be difficult for him not to be able to get back on his feet right away.

Our hope is to ease his mind and let him focus on healing and getting stronger without the stress of finances weighing him down. We are simply asking for help in covering his deductible and a couple months of mortgage payments, so that when he begins his recovery, he won’t have the added worry of bills hanging over him.

We all know John and understand how dedicated he is not only to his family at home but also to his work family, who have already shown so much love and support through this process. Having our loved ones, along with the Burt’s (who we consider our family), and his work family standing behind him gives us strength and will give him the motivation he needs to make a speedy recovery.

The road ahead will be a long one—at least 12 weeks of recovery before he can even think about returning to his normal routine. We will continue to post real-time updates here as we receive them, so everyone who loves and supports John can follow along with his progress.