The Hospital That Saved My Life

On serving the governing board of Shady Grove Medical Center — and what it means to give back to the place that gave you a second chance.

In 2016, I suffered a massive “widowmaker” heart attack. The kind that takes most people suddenly and without warning. But I was lucky — I was rushed to Shady Grove Medical Center, where a team of extraordinary physicians and nurses fought to save my life. They succeeded.

That experience changed everything. It gave me a second chance at life, and it gave me a purpose I might never have found otherwise. Today, I serve on the governing board of the very hospital that saved me. It is an honor I do not take lightly.

Fern and I have made it a priority to give back to Shady Grove — not just financially, though we were proud to help build the Larry and Fern Bensignor Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology Laboratory. We give our time, our advocacy, and our gratitude. This hospital gave me more years with my family. There is no gift large enough to repay that.

Serving on the board has also been an education in healthcare leadership. I have seen firsthand how hospitals operate under pressure, how decisions are made in the interest of patient care, and how communities rely on these institutions in their most vulnerable moments. Shady Grove is not just a building. It is a promise — to every patient who walks through its doors.

I am grateful every day for the second chance I was given. And I believe deeply in the mission of the place that made it possible.