https://12thman.com/news/2019/6/13/football-the-gift-of-a-second-chance.aspx
Texas A&M Athletics - Home of the 12th Man
The Gift of a Second Chance : Charean Williams '86, Special Contributor to 12thMan.com
Football Posted: Jun 13, 2019
John Harvey Slocum, a 2-handicap, played golf June 12. It didn't matter how he hit the ball. It didn't matter how he putted. It didn't matter how he scored.
The fact that he was playing golf 40 days after heart surgery was a victory.
It was more meaningful that Slocum had the same two playing partners as when he collapsed on the course and nearly died.
Slocum was back on the course with Kyle Lewis & Kelly Grunewald on June 12 "I was fortunate before the issue that I was in pretty good physical shape," John Harvey said. "I was born with a congenital heart defect and have always had to deal with that but have yearly checkups and have stayed very healthy, so it's never been a concern. I frequently carry my own golf clubs on the golf course for exercise, so I haven't had any physical limitations to my day-to-day activities.
"This was a unique circumstance that I think at some point falls into the Lord's hands. Obviously, with what I've been through and him getting me through it probably has purpose that today I don't understand but hopefully some day will."
Slocum, the youngest son of Texas A&M interim athletic director R.C. Slocum, is a walking, talking miracle after a near-death experience. He flatlined for an estimated 13 minutes after collapsing while playing golf at the Green Tree Country Club near his home on April 28.
First, paramedics had to save John Harvey's life. Then, doctors feared the 1999 A&M graduate might have brain damage. Finally, John Harvey had to survive a six-hour surgery to implant a defibrillator.
John Harvey's odds weren't good, which is why R.C., the winningest football coach in school history, calls it a "modern-day miracle." John Harvey doesn't try to explain the unexplainable. "In speaking with a medical doctor friend of mine who knows all the scientific side of my experience, her words to me were, 'The only explanation for you coming out of this unharmed is a miracle from God,'" John Harvey said.
John Harvey was born with a heart abnormality that affected his circulatory system. He made his first trip to Texas Children's Hospital when he was 2 days old.
John Harvey needed a risky surgical procedure, but doctors advised the family to wait until technology became more advanced. A few weeks after the Aggies' 1998 Big 12 Championship Game against Kansas State, John Harvey underwent open heart surgery.
"When I did my heart surgery when I was 22, they had me on a heart and lung machine for 13 hours," said John Harvey, who is in the oil and gas business. "There's no way you can get through everything I've been through and be where I am today and not know that the good Lord had a big hand in me being here."
In the 20 years since his open-heart surgery, John Harvey had two scares of atrial flutter. But he was on no medication and had no physical limitations. He raced bicycles,
worked out, walked and played golf. Thus, the incident on April 28 came almost completely out of the blue. John Harvey, a 2-handicap, remembers putting out on the 14th green. His playing partners told him later he sat down in one of the golf carts and complained of not feeling well. They drove to the restroom, splashed his face and gave him a drink water. He briefly perked up before losing consciousness.
By the time the group reached the clubhouse, John Harvey's wife, Theresa, and paramedics were waiting. But John Harvey's heart had stopped, and he wasn't responding to CPR.
Doctors are unsure how long John Harvey was without a pulse but described him as "clinically dead for 13 minutes." "They had just about given up when I got to the hospital," John Harvey said. "Then, finally, they got a pulse."
Doctors at Midland Memorial Hospital used therapeutic hypothermia, lowering John Harvey's body temperature to 91 degrees. The targeted temperature management is used on patients who don't regain consciousness following cardiac arrest.
R.C. received a call from Theresa that morning and took the next commercial flight to Midland, arriving to find his youngest son in the induced coma. R.C. did the only things he could think of to help: He prayed, and, using his social media, he asked others to pray. John Harvey began trending as Aggies passed back the news.
"When he had open-heart surgery, we knew the severity," R.C. said. "But that was planned. This was so sudden, and even after they got his heart beating again, we had no idea whether he was going to have brain damage or memory issues."
John Harvey regained consciousness three days later.
"I was slow to respond but fast," John Harvey said. "Some of the first tests they did, I didn't have much response. I had body function, but I didn't have immediate brain activity. But once I did respond, my brain function came back very quickly. Today, I have absolutely zero memory loss or coordination problems."
John Harvey, though, wasn't out of danger. He had to survive the 480-mile ambulance ride from Midland to Houston on May 2 and then another heart surgery a day later to implant a defibrillator.
"It was a huge concern that he might have another event before we got to Houston," said R.C., who followed the ambulance in John Harvey's car. "There are a bunch of small towns with small hospitals in between. We were just trusting that we would get to Houston without any major problems, but here we are driving 75-80 mph, and it's pouring down rain."
It was a relief when John Harvey arrived safely in the ICU at Texas Children's Hospital. It was an even bigger relief when Dr. Santiago Valdes, a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist, walked in wearing a Texas A&M lanyard around his hospital ID. "An Aggie doctor, Class of '95," R.C. said, chuckling. "We felt good about that." It turns out Valdes also graduated from A&M Consolidated High School, and his younger brother was in the same high school class as John Harvey. "The Lord allowed us to cross paths," John Harvey said. "The day before my heart surgery [in 1999] – God bless him – I walked out and saw Dr. Chuck Fraser, and he had a University of Texas briefcase in his hand. So I certainly had a better feeling with an Aggie lanyard than a Longhorn briefcase."
The surgery May 3 went as planned, and John Harvey was released from the hospital May 6. Life almost has returned to normal. John Harvey is counting his blessings and grateful for his second chance.
John Harvey with his family a week after returning home from the hospital
"I was named after Bum Bright," John Harvey said of Harvey Roberts "Bum" Bright, the former Texas A&M University System Board of Regents chairman and a distinguished A&M alumnus who owned the Dallas Cowboys for five years before selling to Jerry Jones. "There was a big enough age difference that I was a pretty immature adolescent as he was getting older, so to say that we were close would be an exaggeration. But what I can say is that I got to spend enough time with him that there were several lessons he taught me that stuck with me. I don't know at the time that they meant as much to me as they do now over time. One lesson he taught me is that every person you meet is kind of like throwing a stone in a pond, and as you walk around that pond and throw different stones, eventually those ripples will overlap.
"The most amazing thing I've drawn out of this are the ripples that have overlapped. I was amazed how many truly caring people there are out there and the blessings that can come from really specific prayer. I don't know fully what's coming out of this or what I'm supposed to do with it. I'm seeking that through prayer now. I do know it is a wonderful blessing."
Copyright ©2019 Texas A&M Athletics - Home of the 12th Man
Texas A&M Athletics - Home of the 12th Man
The Gift of a Second Chance : Charean Williams '86, Special Contributor to 12thMan.com
Football Posted: Jun 13, 2019
John Harvey Slocum, a 2-handicap, played golf June 12. It didn't matter how he hit the ball. It didn't matter how he putted. It didn't matter how he scored.
The fact that he was playing golf 40 days after heart surgery was a victory.
It was more meaningful that Slocum had the same two playing partners as when he collapsed on the course and nearly died.
Slocum was back on the course with Kyle Lewis & Kelly Grunewald on June 12 "I was fortunate before the issue that I was in pretty good physical shape," John Harvey said. "I was born with a congenital heart defect and have always had to deal with that but have yearly checkups and have stayed very healthy, so it's never been a concern. I frequently carry my own golf clubs on the golf course for exercise, so I haven't had any physical limitations to my day-to-day activities.
"This was a unique circumstance that I think at some point falls into the Lord's hands. Obviously, with what I've been through and him getting me through it probably has purpose that today I don't understand but hopefully some day will."
Slocum, the youngest son of Texas A&M interim athletic director R.C. Slocum, is a walking, talking miracle after a near-death experience. He flatlined for an estimated 13 minutes after collapsing while playing golf at the Green Tree Country Club near his home on April 28.
First, paramedics had to save John Harvey's life. Then, doctors feared the 1999 A&M graduate might have brain damage. Finally, John Harvey had to survive a six-hour surgery to implant a defibrillator.
John Harvey's odds weren't good, which is why R.C., the winningest football coach in school history, calls it a "modern-day miracle." John Harvey doesn't try to explain the unexplainable. "In speaking with a medical doctor friend of mine who knows all the scientific side of my experience, her words to me were, 'The only explanation for you coming out of this unharmed is a miracle from God,'" John Harvey said.
John Harvey was born with a heart abnormality that affected his circulatory system. He made his first trip to Texas Children's Hospital when he was 2 days old.
John Harvey needed a risky surgical procedure, but doctors advised the family to wait until technology became more advanced. A few weeks after the Aggies' 1998 Big 12 Championship Game against Kansas State, John Harvey underwent open heart surgery.
"When I did my heart surgery when I was 22, they had me on a heart and lung machine for 13 hours," said John Harvey, who is in the oil and gas business. "There's no way you can get through everything I've been through and be where I am today and not know that the good Lord had a big hand in me being here."
In the 20 years since his open-heart surgery, John Harvey had two scares of atrial flutter. But he was on no medication and had no physical limitations. He raced bicycles,
worked out, walked and played golf. Thus, the incident on April 28 came almost completely out of the blue. John Harvey, a 2-handicap, remembers putting out on the 14th green. His playing partners told him later he sat down in one of the golf carts and complained of not feeling well. They drove to the restroom, splashed his face and gave him a drink water. He briefly perked up before losing consciousness.
By the time the group reached the clubhouse, John Harvey's wife, Theresa, and paramedics were waiting. But John Harvey's heart had stopped, and he wasn't responding to CPR.
Doctors are unsure how long John Harvey was without a pulse but described him as "clinically dead for 13 minutes." "They had just about given up when I got to the hospital," John Harvey said. "Then, finally, they got a pulse."
Doctors at Midland Memorial Hospital used therapeutic hypothermia, lowering John Harvey's body temperature to 91 degrees. The targeted temperature management is used on patients who don't regain consciousness following cardiac arrest.
R.C. received a call from Theresa that morning and took the next commercial flight to Midland, arriving to find his youngest son in the induced coma. R.C. did the only things he could think of to help: He prayed, and, using his social media, he asked others to pray. John Harvey began trending as Aggies passed back the news.
"When he had open-heart surgery, we knew the severity," R.C. said. "But that was planned. This was so sudden, and even after they got his heart beating again, we had no idea whether he was going to have brain damage or memory issues."
John Harvey regained consciousness three days later.
"I was slow to respond but fast," John Harvey said. "Some of the first tests they did, I didn't have much response. I had body function, but I didn't have immediate brain activity. But once I did respond, my brain function came back very quickly. Today, I have absolutely zero memory loss or coordination problems."
John Harvey, though, wasn't out of danger. He had to survive the 480-mile ambulance ride from Midland to Houston on May 2 and then another heart surgery a day later to implant a defibrillator.
"It was a huge concern that he might have another event before we got to Houston," said R.C., who followed the ambulance in John Harvey's car. "There are a bunch of small towns with small hospitals in between. We were just trusting that we would get to Houston without any major problems, but here we are driving 75-80 mph, and it's pouring down rain."
It was a relief when John Harvey arrived safely in the ICU at Texas Children's Hospital. It was an even bigger relief when Dr. Santiago Valdes, a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist, walked in wearing a Texas A&M lanyard around his hospital ID. "An Aggie doctor, Class of '95," R.C. said, chuckling. "We felt good about that." It turns out Valdes also graduated from A&M Consolidated High School, and his younger brother was in the same high school class as John Harvey. "The Lord allowed us to cross paths," John Harvey said. "The day before my heart surgery [in 1999] – God bless him – I walked out and saw Dr. Chuck Fraser, and he had a University of Texas briefcase in his hand. So I certainly had a better feeling with an Aggie lanyard than a Longhorn briefcase."
The surgery May 3 went as planned, and John Harvey was released from the hospital May 6. Life almost has returned to normal. John Harvey is counting his blessings and grateful for his second chance.
John Harvey with his family a week after returning home from the hospital
"I was named after Bum Bright," John Harvey said of Harvey Roberts "Bum" Bright, the former Texas A&M University System Board of Regents chairman and a distinguished A&M alumnus who owned the Dallas Cowboys for five years before selling to Jerry Jones. "There was a big enough age difference that I was a pretty immature adolescent as he was getting older, so to say that we were close would be an exaggeration. But what I can say is that I got to spend enough time with him that there were several lessons he taught me that stuck with me. I don't know at the time that they meant as much to me as they do now over time. One lesson he taught me is that every person you meet is kind of like throwing a stone in a pond, and as you walk around that pond and throw different stones, eventually those ripples will overlap.
"The most amazing thing I've drawn out of this are the ripples that have overlapped. I was amazed how many truly caring people there are out there and the blessings that can come from really specific prayer. I don't know fully what's coming out of this or what I'm supposed to do with it. I'm seeking that through prayer now. I do know it is a wonderful blessing."
Copyright ©2019 Texas A&M Athletics - Home of the 12th Man
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