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HealthSurvivor's heartfelt tale kickstarts Heart MonthBy Angela BlackburnOAKVILLE BEAVER STAFFHis name is not Lee Majors a.k.a. SteveAustin, the Six Million Dollar Man, butOakvilles Ernie Nock says hes bionic andvery grateful to the Heart and StrokeFoundation for it.Not quite a decade ago, Nock was consid-ered a high performance athlete.He played competitive badminton andtrained with his daughter Melissa who was anunder-19 junior badminton player rankedthird in Canada. He assisted in coaching young players atTorontos Boulevard Club and had coachedthe Iroquois Ridge High School badmintonteam for a decade.He was an avid golfer who hiked theBruce Trail and competed on his horseSandy in barrel racing and dash for cash atriding clubs in the Hamilton area.Nock had worked in the financial field inNIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVERbanking, real estate and insurance, operatedhis own company and had been involvedTHE TELLTALE HEART:Survivor Ernie Nock shares his personal testimony during the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Canvasser Heart Rally at with the Oakville and Milton HumaneOakville Town Hall to kick start a door-to-door fundraising campaign which began at the first of February.Society, American Quarter Horse Associationand National Association of Canadiandoctor and I when the results from thewon the biggest loser contest as I dropped Crystal at Sunnybrook Hospital, one of Clubs.stress test indicated I had damage to thefrom 190 to around 155 pounds in about a Canadas top cardiology specialists.I am here today because of your dona-lower left hand wall of my heart. This wasday and a half, said Nock.In April 2007, Crystal told Nock he was attions to and your support for the Heart andapparently caused by silent heart attacks, of At this time, stress was blamed as the a high risk for a major cardiac attack.Stroke Foundation, Nock told a crowd of which I was not aware, said Nock, admit-culprit.Crystal then outlined a new device knowncanvassers rallied at Oakville Town Hall inting, I was absolutely devastated.Nocks 94-year-old father-in-law had as a duel chamber ICD or implanted cardio-anticipation of Februarys Heart and StrokeA visit to a cardiologist at Toronto Generalpassed away after more than a decade of bat-verter defibrillator.Foundation upcoming canvass, Heartdeemed medication rather than bypass sur-tling prostate cancer and then dementia. On May 8, 2007, I was admitted toMonth, which begins Feb. 1.gery may be best since Nocks heart block-After handling the business of settling Sunnybrook at 9 a.m., had the surgery at 10More than 100 volunteers turned up atage was only measured at 70 per cent.the estate, Nock was not only feeling the a.m., was out of surgery at 11 a.m. and dis-the rally in preparation for the upcomingHe also told me that if I had not been instrain, but collapsed under it.charged at 4:15 p.m. I was back conductingFebruary Heart Month door-to-door can-the physical condition that I was in, I mightOver the next couple of months, his my business the next day, said Nock.vass.not have survived these attacks. I was able tomedication was adjusted and Nock entered The procedure was a relatively simpleNock, 69, who now sports a device thatcontinue my sports activities, however, I hadcardiac rehab.one. The implanted device is placed in thecould administer the big bang equivalentto monitor and be careful that I did notAfter several months, feeling better and chest under the muscle tissue on the breastof a fully-charged defibrillator has yet tooverdo myself and I started to use a heartgetting back into an exercise routine, a fur-plate with leads that run to the upper andreceive such a jolt.monitor for my activities, said Nock.ther test showed his heart was functioning lower right-hand chambers of the heart. IHe was however in for the shock of hisThen five years ago in June 2006, I wasat only 20 per cent.had to be relatively inactive from sports orlife when his doctor and friend suggested hehospitalized with congestive heart failure atBased on these results, the medical staff heavy activities for about six weeks while theget updated blood tests and a stress testOakville Trafalgar Hospital, said Nock.was amazed that I could function at the level leads into the heart were scarred so theynearly a decade ago.I had 6,000 ccs of fluid removed fromof activity that I was, said Nock.would not come out. Guess what? I am nowYou can imagine the shock of both mymy lungs and probably could have easilyHis next stop was the office of Dr. Eugene bionic, said Nock.Oakvilles New State-of-the-Art Hearing Clinic$30OFFWe offer:a pair of Comprehensive Hearing BatteriesVisit our new officeTests for all ages P ersonal Audiomusician across from Winners All makes and modelsMonitors TrplugsPascale-Annie Roy afaDallgebHearing Aids Noise PlugaroroM.Sc.S.,Reg CASLO RdAudiologist Trial period Sleeping Plug289.837.1137 Assistive Listening Swim PlugAnnick Mrd r2387 TDrafalgar Road, kM.Sc.S.,Au.D,Reg ClASLPO aDevices Bilingual ServiceWkaValid until Feb. 28, 2011DoctoOr of AudiologyOakville ON L6H 6K7www.insideHALTON.com OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, February 3, 2011 22DundasStEWIONNaEkRPS/aHrokm BeSlvendsePostridgeDr