Tommy Bell thought he was healthy. At 62, the Florida hospital transport worker didn’t smoke or drink, walked more than 10,000 steps a day on the job at AdventHealth DeLand and had improved his diet after learning about nutrition while working at the hospital. Still, a mild chest pain he felt driving home the day before Thanksgiving prompted him to return to the emergency department for evaluation.
Tests revealed a serious blockage in his left anterior descending artery — often called the “widowmaker” — and heavy calcification around the vessel. Doctors planned a procedure to place a stent to open the artery. Bell spent Thanksgiving in the hospital and received the stent the next day. Shortly after the procedure he was struck by severe pain and collapsed into a fetal position.
“I went into a fetal position, and I could not straighten back up,” Bell recalled. Staff told him to straighten so they could treat him. Tests showed he was having a heart attack; doctors placed another stent and his condition stabilized. He was discharged the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
The next morning, after a sensation like heartburn, Bell’s wife rushed him back to the hospital. From that point his memories are patchy. He recalls being wheeled to the cath lab and later waking in the ICU and being told he had experienced two more heart attacks — three heart attacks in four days.
“I was thinking, ‘What have I done to myself?’” Bell said.
Dr. Janak Bhavsar, an interventional cardiologist at AdventHealth DeLand, said Bell’s repeat heart attacks were caused by a blood clot that formed after the first stent procedure — a recognized but uncommon complication that affects roughly 0.5% to 1% of people who have stents placed. Bell’s large blockage and severe calcification increased the risk: heavy calcium can prevent a stent from fully expanding, slow blood flow and make clot formation more likely.
To treat the problem, Bhavsar and his team performed intracoronary lithotripsy. In that technique a specialized balloon is positioned inside the blocked artery and delivers controlled sonic pulses that help fracture calcium deposits so the stent can expand more fully. Bell received a second stent and was started on blood thinners to reduce the chance of another clot.
He remained in the hospital for several days under close observation. Bell experienced pain for hours after waking but, Bhavsar said, it was a reaction to the procedures and events rather than another heart attack. Friends, coworkers and colleagues from across the hospital came to support him; he said the outpouring — from administrators and clinicians to housekeeping and transport staff — was overwhelming.
“The amount of love that was poured out and that was expressed on my behalf was so overwhelming,” Bell said. “They actually had to slow it down a bit, so I could recover.”
Bell spent two weeks recovering at home before returning to work. Being back in the hospital where he nearly died was jarring, he said, but familiar faces helped. He met with the cardiac rehabilitation and dietary teams to identify changes to lower his future risk. While his cardiovascular fitness was good because of his active job, earlier eating habits had likely contributed to plaque buildup over decades: Bell had eaten a lot of fast food in his 20s and 30s and didn’t always watch salt or cholesterol. Most arterial plaque can’t be erased simply by changing diet, experts say, though lifestyle improvements do reduce overall risk and help prevent further problems.
Bell has shifted his eating habits to leaner proteins, more salads and healthier snacks. He swaps recipes with other survivors and will continue follow-up appointments and medication management with his cardiology team.
“I could not believe that this had happened to me. I thought I ate right, I took care of myself fairly decent,” he said. “I didn’t really think I had to change anything, but we did change it. I can change my future in the way I eat.”
Bell’s case highlights a rare but serious post-stent complication and the role new tools such as intracoronary lithotripsy can play in treating calcified coronary disease. It also underlines that heart disease can affect people who appear active and health-conscious, and that early evaluation of chest symptoms remains critical.