Stand by Ricky: Widow Maker Heart Attack

Hi everyone, for anyone that knows Ricky and I, knows this is extremely hard for us to do, but we put our pride aside and owned up to needing help.

So here goes.

Sunday 3/2/25, Ricky and I played in a pitch tournament all day and then headed to Turning Stone Casino with my mom to stay the night around 8:30 pm. When we got there, we checked into our rooms and then proceeded to get something to eat in what we call the "free" room. After eating, we decided to play some Pai Gow poker. Hours went by, and Ricky told me he was starting to get tired; it was around 1 am at this point. I told him to go upstairs and go to bed if he was because I wasn't quite ready to go up yet. He said, "No, I'll wait for you. I'm OK." So we stayed downstairs another hour and then headed to our room around 2 am. When we got there, I got ready and then headed into bed. Ricky came over to me at bedside, dropped to his knees, stated he had vertigo, and fell to the ground. I immediately jumped out of bed to find him rapidly breathing. I proceeded to call for medical help to the front desk. When I came back to him, he was not breathing, and there was no pulse. I put all my love for him aside and did what I know, what I went to school for. I began CPR. I did it for what seemed like eternity, but in reality, it was maybe 3 or 4 minutes. Scariest moment of my life for sure. EMTs arrived, and they took over. At this time, I left the room and lost control of my emotions. I thought I was gonna lose him. EMT used the AED equipment, shocked his heart once, and they regained a pulse. They took him to Wynn Hospital in Utica as it was the best hospital closest to where we were. We have been here since Sunday 3:30 am, and they have run all sorts of tests: CT of brain, MRI of brain, echo of heart and legs, and contrast dye of heart. The results were way more complex than the cardiologist had originally thought. Ricky had a widow maker heart attack on top of a small stroke Sunday morning. He is VERY BLESSED to be here. His EF (ejection fraction) is low; his left ventricle is only squeezing at 30-35%, and it should be 75% or higher. His muscle is weak. And two of his main arteries in his heart are 80% occluded. He will need a double, possibly triple, bypass. They just run the risk of him having a bigger stroke with having the open-heart surgery so soon after having a small stroke. So the cardiac team and stroke team are gonna come up with a course of action for him. With the help of his nephew Ronnie Russo, who is a heart doctor himself, I know Ricky is in the best possible hands. And it's all left up to GOD and the surgery team. Please pray for Ricky to have a full healthy recovery; it's gonna be a long road ahead.

In the meantime, I have been by his side since this happened, causing me to miss days of work and more going forward. I am an agency nurse and do not have any benefits, so I will not get paid for anything, and it will be a struggle to say the least. But Ricky is my main focus, and he wants me here with him as much as I can be. Ricky too is missing doing his job, which is being a car dealer. So we have no income coming in, and I really don't want this to be a worry in our lives. Our main focus needs to be Ricky and his recovery. I love this man so much, only one year in, I'm not ready to lose him! Please help in any way you can, even if just $1 or to just send prayers!!!! We love you all!

If any of you know Ricky, you know he's got the biggest heart of all, and he's the most generous person you'll ever meet. Thanks in advance for any donations. ❤️ ❤️