Ten days after hospital release, member walks daughter down aisle, Mike Gilliam, Meeker, Okla.

*Editor’s note: This information was published in the December 2021 issue of Heartfelt Magazine, CHM’s monthly magazine that provides CHM membership-related tips and tricks, medical advice from doctors, testimonies from CHM members, and more. Please refer to the CHM Guidelines and applicable web pages for the most up-to-date information regarding CHM membership, sharing eligibility, and ministry news.*

Each year, we vacation at the same beach. However, this year involved a celebration that quickly turned into a shocking event.

This trip was our last time together as the Gilliam Five: Our daughter was getting married at the end of the month. One day, after a morning workout on the beach, my chest started hurting. Thinking it was indigestion, since I’d eaten breakfast prior to the workout, I returned to the beach house.

At my wife Kasey’s insistence, we headed to the local medical clinic. I was hesitant, but decided it would be best to get things checked out. Immediately, they hooked me up to an EKG and informed me I would be rushed to a larger hospital in Charleston, S.C.

As soon as we arrived, they wheeled me into the operating room: They found an 80 percent blockage in my Left Anterior Descending Artery (LAD), or widow-maker artery.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Kasey was the only family member allowed at the hospital. She and so many others began praying for the staff and the doctors. The doctor placed a stent that—praise God—opened the blockage. After an ICU stay, I was released but returned due to additional pain. Thankfully, nothing more was found.

After the shock of my heart attack, we reached out to CHM for direction. The staff members treated me with genuine concern for my condition.

Just 10 days after being released from the hospital, I walked my daughter down the aisle at her wedding. Nothing can describe my gratefulness to Jesus Christ for the peace I felt during the heart attack and the blessing of surviving it.

I didn’t have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, so I never expected a heart attack. Thank you, CHM, for providing peace of mind during this difficult time in my life.