‘There’s something I’m meant to do’: Pasco man changes lifestyle after surviving near-fatal heart attack

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - A Wesley Chapel man has a new lease on life after nearly dying of a heart attack in the beginning of the year.

James Middleton’s brush with death began as he was sipping his late-morning coffee in January. The ordinary cup of Joe almost turned deadly when the 73-year-old suffered a heart attack.  His wife drove him 10 minutes down the road to the hospital in Wesley Chapel, where she got devastating news.

"They came out and they said I’m so sorry," said Betty Middleton. 

James Middleton had flat-lined. 

"Technically I was dead for a little over two minutes," James Middleton said. 

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But he wasn't ready to give up just yet. Doctors shocked his heart an astounding 18 times. 

"Shocking somebody that much is unheard of," said Dr. Yazan Alkhouri, with AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. "He's really a miracle patient. He's a fighter. He wouldn’t quit too," he added. "The lesson to be learned is to watch for your risk factors," said Dr. Alkhouri. 

For some, those risk factors may include getting control of diabetes, hypertension, or weight gain before it’s too late. For long-time smoker James Middleton, it was cigarettes.

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"I’ve been a smoker for over 50 years and I think that's what brought it on," he said. 

James is doing better and has since quit smoking. He says he has a new outlook on life, after nearly losing it. 

"There's something that I’m meant to do," Middleton said. 

Maybe it is to help stop the next person, from going through the same thing.