Roosevelt S.: A Heart Attack at 45, Six Bypasses, and a Plumbing Career Lost

Roosevelt was 45 when a heart attack caused by smoking put him in the hospital for a month. His story is one of CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign. He is now 51.

From a teenage habit to a heart attack

Like many people who smoke, Roosevelt first tried cigarettes as a teenager. The habit took hold for good while he was in the military. Nearly 30 years later, the damage began to show.

He describes the heart attack as a hand inside his chest squeezing his heart — the worst charley horse you can imagine, but in the heart.

Doctors first put stents into his heart to repair the damage smoking had done. When those were not enough, he had bypass surgery: six bypasses.

Still smoking, and feeling it

Cigarettes had such a hold on him that he kept smoking even after the surgery. But now it was different. Scar tissue from the heart attack meant he could feel the pain in his heart when he breathed in smoke. He quit, he says, because he did not want to kill himself.

It took many attempts before he succeeded. Looking back, he says that people who smoke often fool themselves about the harm and about how addicted they are — younger smokers especially tend to believe they are not hooked — even though most of them want to quit.

What quitting didn't give back

Roosevelt has now been smokefree for 3 years, but the damage stayed:

• He had to give up his career as a commercial plumber: his heart is no longer strong enough for such strenuous work.
• His health problems keep him from being as active with his children as he would like.

He credits his family's love and support — and their constant nagging — as the key to finally quitting.

His advice

• Lean on the people who care about you. They will support you; take it one day at a time.
• Think about what you want to be there for. If you want to see your children graduate and one day meet your grandchildren, stop smoking.
• Don't assume it won't be you. Everyone thinks health problems happen to other people, Roosevelt says, but they happen to a great many people — and you could be next. He wishes he had never smoked, and hopes that telling his story will help save lives.

CDC has more on heart disease, stroke and smoking, and other Tips stories.

Free help to quit

Sources

Based on "Roosevelt S.'s Story," Tips From Former Smokers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the campaign's videos with Roosevelt; a work of the United States government in the public domain; rewritten in hubnx's own words.