09/30/2025
Alvin was used to living with neck pain — sometimes so severe it caused his arm to go numb from a bulging disc. But on May 18, he could tell something felt different.
“I never had any chest pain or anything like that,” Alvin said, “But we looked it up, and there were a lot of little symptoms that could mean a heart attack. So, we went in to get it checked out.”
His local hospital confirmed one of his arteries was 100% blocked, and another was 90% blocked. Alvin was having a STEMI heart attack, also known as a “widowmaker.”
He began treatment locally, but his family knew he needed more. That’s when they transferred him to University Hospital, our Level 1 STEMI Center equipped for the most severe heart attacks. There, he met cardiologist Dr. Vrinda Trivedi.
“I can’t even describe how amazing she is,” Alvin shared. “She wanted to make sure you truly understood what’s going on.” He added that the nurses were just as incredible and there for him every step of the way.
Dr. Trivedi started by placing Alvin on an Impella pump, a temporary device that supports the heart while it heals. But when his heart didn’t recover as hoped, his care team decided to escalate to ECMO — extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
ECMO is advanced life support that takes over the work of the heart and lungs when they can’t function on their own. MU Health Care has the only ECMO team in mid-Missouri, providing 24/7 monitoring to keep patients alive during their most critical moments. For Alvin, ECMO bridged the gap until a donor heart became available.
That expertise made all the difference. Just ten days after being placed on the list, Alvin received a heart transplant.
“The records say I coded three times,” said Alvin, who is now back to deer hunting and spending time with his family. His advice for others is simple. “Just go get checked. All you can do is go get the heart scan and see what’s going on.”
Learn how to get a heart scan with our Love Your Heart Cardiac Screening at muhealth.org/scanmyheart
