Bay Area pastor's prayers were answered after avoiding 'widowmaker' heart attack

AVON PARK, Fla. - His voice rises through the church as he sings about faith in God.

It could have been the last song that Pastor Rodney McFadden would ever sing. Helping lead the congregation at Avon Park Seventh Day Adventist Church, McFadden is 44, a former college basketball player, and seemingly the picture of health.

But the picture started to shatter last August at a dental appointment. They took his blood pressure and sent him straight to his doctor.

"She said, 'Pastor, you don't look good,'" recalled McFadden.

His blood pressure read 220 over 110. His chest was tight. The doctor told him they had to act fast.

"Immediately we gotta send you to the emergency room," is what McFadden remembered the doctor saying. "She called my wife and said, 'Listen, I'm not going to let him go home.'"

In the ambulance he prayed and thought about the people in his life.

"The thing I kept thinking about was my kids, my family, am I going to be able to make it home?" said McFadden.

When he arrived at AdventHealth Sebring, they found what's called the widowmaker, a 90 percent blockage of the main artery to his heart.

"If that is blocked acutely, people end up dying and that's why it's called the widowmaker," said Dr. Deepti Bhandare, a cardiologist at AdventHealth Sebring.

Doctors acted fast, ultimately placing stents to open the flow of blood to his heart.

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"If we had not controlled it in a very rapid fashion, he could have had a stroke, massive heart attack, or even death," said Bhandare.

They saved him. Prayers were answered. McFadden read a Bible Verse from Proverbs.

"It says, above all else, guard your heart, for everything flows through it," read McFadden.

McFadden is Black and heart disease is more prevalent among Black people, but anyone who sits in his church now will hear an extra message from Pastor Rodney.

"If you have underlying issues like diabetes or high blood pressure, make sure you’re going to see your primary care doctor, check in with your doctors and check your numbers. I never would have thought it, I’m only 44 years old," explained McFadden.

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He thanks God that he made it in time. He said if he had waited another day he would have likely died.

According to Pastor McFadden, time with his family is now more precious.

Note: Doctors say regardless of your age or race, you should visit your doctor at least once a year. Make sure they test your blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol.

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