Osoyoos Rotary Club member Harold Cox made a presentation recently to local members telling them how much he appreciates life after recovering from a massive heart attack while playing pickup hockey 10 months ago. Cox was revived when his hockey buddies used an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to charge his heart. (Richard McGuire photo)
If you would have told Harold Cox 10 months ago – or any of his family members and friends – that he would be playing the best golf of his life and planning a trip to Hawaii next week, they simply would not have believed you.
That’s because the 74-year-old Osoyoos resident admits he “cheated death” when he suffered a massive heart attack while playing pickup hockey with his buddies at the Oliver Arena January 19.
As has been well documented in local, provincial and national media, Cox’s life was saved when five of his hockey buddies rushed into action in the seconds after he crashed to the ice after suffering the heart attack.
Within a couple of minutes of falling to the ice, Cox’s hockey buddies – that included Marty Whiteman, Jeff Crowley, Doug Hume, Bryan Coles and Steve Arstad – gathered up an automated external defibrillator (AED) and shocked his heart bringing him back to life.
Within seconds of having his heart shocked, Cox’s heartbeat and pulse returned and he was rushed to hospital.
Three weeks later, he underwent successful triple bypass surgery at a hospital in Kelowna.
He returned to his wife Audrie and his Osoyoos home within a month of the life-altering experience.
Seven months after the incident, Cox is not only back on the ice and playing hockey once again, but he’s back to his regular routine of working out at the gym several times and week and played the best golf of his life this past summer.
Cox spoke about his remarkable recovery from sure death during a presentation to the Rotary Club of Osoyoos last week.
“Some people say I’ve cheated death or that I’m living on borrowed time,” said Cox. “They want to know what I’m doing differently or if I’ve changed by living habits. They want to know if I’ve changed, can I change, what is different.”
What’s changed the most over the past several months is waking up and appreciating every single day and the people you care about, said Cox, who has been a longtime Rotarian.
He still doesn’t remember a single thing about his heart attack or the rescue efforts to save his life, said Cox.
What he does remember is waking up in hospital with his wife and two adult children looking down at him from the end of his hospital bed,
“I would only smile and look and wonder,” he said.
He knew something serious had happened because he was in hospital and his children had travelled long distances to be with him, but the story of what happened to him and how his life was saved remains remarkable to him, said Cox.
“I tried to think about what was going on and wondered if I was dreaming, but I knew I wasn’t dreaming,” he said.
He will be forever grateful and indebted to the five men who worked so well together to save his life, said Cox.
The tremendous support from family and friends who visited him in the hospital in Kelowna before heart surgery still amazes him, he said.
He also remembers nursing staff testing him to see his level of brain function.
One nurse asked him to remember seven words and would test him the next day.
“I rehearsed those seven words for hours,” he said laughing. “Funny enough I never had to take that test as she never came back because doctors moved me to another part of the hospital.”
He often thinks about all of the things he’s done since being brought back to life and can’t help but smile, said Cox.
He’s travelled to Ottawa to visit his son and grandchildren, visited Saskatchewan and Nelson, B.C., played a lot of golf and is back playing hockey.
“I’m actually hitting the ball better in golf than I ever have in my life,” he said.
He also got to enjoy his 50th wedding anniversary with Audrie this past summer.
“If it wasn’t for the quick action of my hockey buddies and an almost unbelievable series of events that brought me back from death, I would have missed so much these past 10 months and 10 days,” he said. “I’m very thankful to still be here.”
Cox ended his presentation said he’s looking forward to be heading to Hawaii this week for a Christmas holiday vacation.
A film crew from Rogers Television visited Osoyoos and Oliver to produce a two-minute documentary about Cox’s amazing recovery over the past several months. That clip was played on Hockey Night in Canada a couple of months ago and can be viewed on YouTube under the tag Golden Years: Harold Cox.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
