On a snowy day, the warmth of a stranger kept one man alive

在2021年初的几个月里，大雪覆盖了费城.

Justin Stroh and his wife, Bess, both in their 60s, 一直在他们郊区的家门前轮流铲雪. On a Monday in February, the snow was falling fast and hard, dumping 1 to 2 inches an hour before mixing with rain. The combination made it too heavy to clear. The Strohs considered taking a long walk with Michael, their Labrador mix, but decided it was too slick to walk safely.

Bess settled in to work in a back bedroom, where she'd created a makeshift office during the pandemic. But Justin suddenly decided he needed to tackle the sidewalk. He stepped out without telling his wife. 他不知道为什么，因为他不记得那天，也不记得之后的日子和星期.

贾斯汀倒在他们家门前，离贝丝能看到或听到他的地方很远. He was lying there, lifeless, 当时詹妮弗·肯尼迪开车去学校接儿子.

肯尼迪说:“我碰巧用余光看到有一个人躺在雪地里。. 她把车停在路边，爬过一个雪堆，大声叫他. Getting no response, she called 911 and began CPR. 作为一名心脏外科护士，她知道该怎么做.

肯尼迪的努力是一系列线上娱乐电子游戏网站中的第一个，这些线上娱乐电子游戏网站可能挽救了贾斯汀的生命——以及他的大脑功能.

在医院外心脏骤停的人十分之九会死亡. 许多被复苏的人在出院前死亡，因为他们的大脑和重要器官在心脏停止跳动时因缺氧而受伤. 但是那些从旁观者那里得到心肺复苏术的人有双倍的生存机会.

There are many reasons people can go into cardiac arrest. Heart attacks – more common during periods of heavy snowfall, 当铲土给心脏带来额外的压力时——就是其中之一. 是心脏病发作，由动脉阻塞引起，导致了贾斯汀的心脏骤停.

Emergency medical professionals restored Justin's heartbeat. However, he spent about three months in the hospital, 这是一场奥德赛，其中包括一个月的药物昏迷，以及在救护车上插入呼吸管导致的肺炎. Along the way, kidney problems prompted temporary dialysis.

Just as he was starting to recover, he came down with COVID-19. Until this time, Bess had stayed by his side in the ICU, reading to her husband, playing music and talking to him. So it was no surprise that when he got COVID-19, she did, too.

贾斯汀克服的另一个挑战是暂时性的认知问题. Once conscious again, he had to relearn how to speak. And how to walk. He also has some memory loss. 他记得的最后一件事是和女儿在纽约的一家博物馆, something that happened two weeks before his collapse.

"I look normal, but I still suffer from a few things," he said. "I am incredibly easily winded. I can't do very much."

What he can do is walk 2 miles on a treadmill, 举重，在椭圆机上锻炼10分钟, but it exhausts him. He can speak, but he sometimes struggles to find the right words. He had to retire from his job as a research scientist. 他现在花线上电子游戏飞禽走兽把自己的故事拼凑起来，想办法把发生在他身上的事情变成积极的事情, like getting involved with the American Heart Association.

他永远感激肯尼迪对他救命的帮助, the woman who gave him CPR, and the medical professionals who never gave up on him. 这份名单包括一名语言治疗师和一组呼吸系统专家.

"He worked with some really extraordinary people," Bess said. "They invested in him and believed in him. That makes a huge difference."

Justin thinks of these people often, especially Kennedy. While he has no memory of what she did for him, 他知道没有她他就活不了，所以打电话告诉她. He sends her a box of Christmas cookies every year. 肯尼迪把斯特罗饼干加入了她的圣诞贺卡清单，她说这些饼干让她微笑.

Not half as wide as Justin.

Stories From the Heart 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.