A Quiet Life Interrupted

Norman and Terry Anthony lived a relatively quiet, routine life in their active-adult neighborhood on Jacksonville’s Southside. Most days were spent playing pickleball, participating in pool sports and walking their Corgi, Barkley. They maintained a healthy lifestyle and took every opportunity to enjoy time with their grandchildren.

As they headed into the first weekend of December 2025, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They attended their water volleyball Christmas party on Friday and spent Saturday night babysitting their two grandchildren while their daughter and son-in-law went to an office holiday party. Sunday was an exciting day as the whole family celebrated their granddaughter’s birthday at a local gymnastics center. By that night, the house was quiet again and the weekend wrapped up the way it did most weekends — satisfying and comfortably predictable, so the Anthonys headed to bed around 10:30 p.m., unaware of how, in just a few hours, their Monday was going to be anything but routine.

A Not-So-Subtle Warning

Around 2 a.m., Norman Anthony woke up in a cold sweat. Disoriented and confused by what was taking place, he retreated to the bathroom so as not to wake his wife. When Anthony sat down on the toilet to Google what was happening, he was shocked to realize just how much he was sweating.

“I was drenched, literally dripping with sweat,” Anthony said. “I never sweat, even here in Florida during July. My search was pointing to a heart attack, and it was about that time I started to notice just a little tightness in my chest. At that point I knew something was wrong, so I called to Terry.”

“When I touched his skin, it was cold,” Terry Anthony said. “Not just clammy but icy and slick with sweat. It was not normal in any way.”

No Time to Waste

Understanding they needed help fast, the Anthonys decided to forgo calling 9-1-1 and instead drove to UF Health Emergency & Urgent Care – Baymeadows located about a mile from their house. UF Health Emergency & Urgent Care Centers provide 24/7, walk-in emergency and urgent care and are fully equipped to handle everything from allergies to chest pain with on-site labs, X-ray, ultrasound and CT scanners.

Within minutes of their arrival, Anthony was placed in an exam room where staff proceeded to run tests and diagnose what was happening. Although he wasn’t in great distress, an elevated EKG revealed exactly what he and his wife were afraid of. Medically known as a ST-elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI, Anthony was having an acute heart attack due to a blockage in his left anterior descending artery, which supplies roughly 60-70% of the blood needed for proper heart function. A severe blockage can cause pump failure and lethal arrhythmias, a condition commonly referred to as a “widowmaker.”

“When I first saw Mr. Anthony, he looked better than expected,” said Ryan Hebel, MD, emergency medicine physician at UF Health Emergency & Urgent Care – Baymeadows. “His chest pain was improving. He wasn’t diaphoretic anymore, which means his excessive and abnormal perspiration had stopped. At that point his condition was not worsening, so I activated a STEMI alert and notified UF Health Jacksonville’s Interventional Cardiology Program downtown.”

Calm to Crisis Within Minutes

Staff continued working to keep Anthony stable by adding a second IV line and prepped him to be moved to the resuscitation bay to wait for transport. However, within just a few minutes, the situation escalated very quickly. Anthony’s eyes rolled back in his head and his chest suddenly rose off the gurney as monitor alarms sounded. He was coding and further extreme treatments were needed. Dr. Hebel and his team began chest compressions and used a defibrillator to shock his heart back into rhythm.

“We defibrillated him three times before he regained consciousness,” Hebel said. “At that point we placed a breathing tube to protect his airway and administered antiarrhythmic medication to normalize his heart rhythm. He was “fighting” us a little. Not aggressively but showing purposeful movement. That was a good sign — it meant brain activity and awareness was returning. Transport had arrived at that point, so we did a final review to ensure he was safe for travel and they drove him to [UF Health Jacksonville] 8th Street."

Comprehensive Heart Care

Once downtown at UF Health Jacksonville, Anthony was transferred to the care of Madaline Mahowald, MD, cardiologist, and the interventional cardiology team. He was taken to the catheterization laboratory, where Mahowald diagnosed and treated Anthony’s blockage.

“Mr. Anthony’s blockage was due to a clot,” Mahowald said. “I inserted a wire through the blocked vessel to the heart, inflated a balloon to break up the clot, and then placed a stent to keep the artery open long-term. After restoring blood flow mechanically, we put him on medications to support heart function and reduce fluid in the lungs.”

For the next four days, Anthony remained in the Cardiovascular Center’s critical care unit, under the supervision of Fabiana Rollini, MD, cardiologist. Before discharge, he was fitted for a ZOLL LifeVest, a wearable cardioverter defibrillator which monitors and records a patient’s heart activity and can deliver a lifesaving shock when it detects an abnormal rhythm. He was also enrolled in the cardiac rehabilitation program, a series of 36 physical rehabilitation sessions designed to restore a patient’s heart function to a strength level safe enough for returning to everyday life activities.

A Return to Everyday Life, Redefined

Less than a week after surviving a “widowmaker” heart attack, Anthony was home again. On Sunday, Dec. 14, he was well enough to attend photos with Santa at their neighborhood clubhouse alongside his family. The event marked a quiet return to normalcy — but with a much deeper appreciation of how the routine of everyday life is anything but guaranteed.

In the months since his heart attack, Anthony is back to walking Barkley with Terry, spending as much time with his grandchildren as possible and slowly adjusting to an active but updated lifestyle. He has improved his diet by reducing sodium and cooking at home, and now takes daily medication to manage blood pressure, reduce cholesterol and prevent blood clots.

“Mr. Anthony's active, healthy lifestyle played a large role in his ability to survive and bounce back from a heart attack,” Mahowald said. “But it's also important to note that patients can't fight genetics. He has a family history of heart disease, and ultimately that's what led to his blockage. He did everything right, but some things are simply out of our control without medication.”

Never Ignore a Wake-up Call

As Anthony settles into his new normal — completing cardiac rehabilitation, taking daily medication and easing back into the pool — it’s a reminder that a single, sudden break from his usual routine (waking up drenched in a cold sweat) was the only signal to seek immediate help and consequently what saved his life.

“Always come in,” Hebel said. “You’re never wasting our time. These facilities exist for exactly that reason. Especially with symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, or anything unusual or concerning—we take those very seriously. It’s far better to be evaluated and told everything is fine than to wait and risk a worse outcome.”