By John Hysell

I had a heart attack while I was driving my tractor and trailer across country.

I had no idea what the pain was that I was experiencing. I pulled into a hospital parking lot and began walking to the ER doors. About 20 feet from the doors, that's all she wrote.

I went down to my knees and awoke a little while later, welcomed back to life by a doctor at a hospital in Paduca, Ky. He explained that all the pain I had been experiencing over the last few days was a warning system telling me to go to the hospital.

I thought it was a pinched nerve and kept on eating Extra Strength Tylenol like it was candy. The next day, I had a stent placed in my circumflex artery, which was 100 percent blocked.

That was the first time.

The second time I was here in Augusta having a check-up at University Hospital with Dr. Rehman. He did an EKG, which looked bad, so he prepped me for a catherization once again, exactly one year from when I had the first one. Sure enough, three more stents were placed, making a total of four.

So far, I have cheated death twice.

Moving ahead to 2012, I am employed at Costco warehouse. I was working at full steam ahead, no signs of anything going wrong.

On Jan. 27, I was in Dr. Rehman's office for a check-up. He pulled out his EKG and it was worse than the last time. This time, I didn't feel any warning symptoms. They found out my sugar level was 525, leading to two more stents and a big lecture about taking care of myself.

I am now watching what I eat and getting moderate exercise. I was clearly not paying attention to my lifestyle, and I could have died.

I have four wonderful and beautiful daughters at home who still need their dad.

News 12 wants to share the stories of survivors through our Smart Heart Web page. If you or a loved one wants to share a survival story, email us at web@wrdw.com.

Have information or an opinion about this story? Click here to contact the newsroom.

Copyright WRDW-TV News 12. All rights reserved. This material may not be republished without express written permission.