When time stood still – and life began again: Lane’s story
Patient Story
Lane Burman had just finished pushing his wife’s car out of the snow on a cold December day when everything suddenly went black.
His heart stopped. And the 40-year-old father of two young girls collapsed on Victoria St.
Hours later, he awoke in the coronary care unit at WRHN @ Queen’s Blvd. (formerly St. Mary’s), with no recollection of the incredible sequence of events that had just saved his life.
As he learned the details – the 12 minutes of CPR he got from a young passerby; the six rounds of defibrillation he received from a paramedic; and the angiogram in the cardiac catheterization lab that would eventually help solve a mystery heart ailment – his perspective on life shifted in an instant.
“Without any one of those people doing what they did that day, I wouldn’t be here,” Lane says.
It’s been nine years since my cardiac arrest, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about them – and the years of life they’ve given me.
Searching for answers
For months leading up to the incident, Lane had felt off, but doctors couldn’t figure out why. Before that, he’d been relatively healthy, passing routine physicals and living a normal life.
After collapsing on the street, tests in the cath lab confirmed he didn’t have a blockage in his arteries. The findings led to further tests to look at his heart rhythm. Within two days, Lane had a pacemaker implanted.
“The cath lab team are like the plumbers; the arrhythmia program has the electricians,” Lane says, describing how doctors explained to him.
I needed the cath lab to rule out the plumbing issue, then the electricians could come in and do their thing.
For Lane, the whole experience of realizing that his heart could stop at any moment was surreal. The pacemaker offered him assurance, stepping in to keep his cardiac rhythm in check, but it didn’t explain what caused his condition.
Then, months later, Lane saw a news story about the "Newfoundland Curse,” a genetic heart condition that causes sudden death, especially in younger men. The condition, prevalent in Newfoundland and Labrador where Lane’s family is from, is thought to be caused by a faulty genetic mutation.
Lane told his cardiac team about the news story, and a simple blood test diagnosed him. Finally, Lane had an explanation for why his heart rate could spike well over 300 beats per minute, causing his pacemaker to activate.
A dozen close calls
Over the last nine years, his pacemaker has “zapped” him 12 times.
“Every time it goes off, that’s my life being saved all over again,” says Lane, who manages the condition with medication and frequent visits to WRHN.
In January, he had the batteries in his pacemaker replaced. In February, he had his second ablation – a procedure that helps fix heart rhythm problems. At each appointment, he’s met with warmth and compassion from staff at the cardiac centre.
“Everybody there knows me,” he says with a chuckle at first before holding back tears.
They know me by name. They know my story, and they care about my story.
“You don’t get that in every hospital.”
Living in the moment
Since his cardiac arrest in 2016, Lane has watched his daughters grow from youngsters into teenagers. He’s enjoyed several vacations with his wife, celebrated 25 years of marriage, and watched their natural skincare business – Cocoon Apothecary – grow and thrive.
He’s been around for scraped knees and heartbreaks, for help with homework and help with dinner. Through the mundane and the spectacular, Lane fills himself with gratitude.
And he shares that gratitude every chance he gets.
Each year on the anniversary of his cardiac arrest, Lane meets up with Dylan, the young man who saved his life with CPR. And after years of searching for Kevin, the tenacious paramedic who defibrillated him multiple times, the two finally met at WRHN @ Queen’s Blvd.
For Lane, it’s important to continue to show his appreciation for both of them, and for all the exceptional cardiac care he’s received at WRHN.
“These near-death experiences change everything,” Lane says. “It makes you realize our time here is so limited."
Every year I’m here feels like a gift.
This heart month, give the gift of time.
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