For Tom De Nardi, cardiac care “a kind of magic”

Tom De Nardi, President of Mondo Foods Group, upstairs at the Piazza De Nardi specialty grocer, wine shop, and event centre.


June 3, 2022

Heading up his family’s thriving specialty food and wine business, Tom De Nardi strives to deliver the best-possible experience for customers.

He’s just as committed when it comes to his own health and that of St. Boniface Hospital patients.

Around 3:55 pm one day last November, De Nardi, a St. Boniface Hospital Foundation Board Member, finished running on a treadmill at home. It was a typical workout for the physically active De Nardi.

Except this time, he felt a burning in his chest afterward. And his hands were numb. He was alone in the house at the time.

While he had no underlying medical conditions, De Nardi knew to promptly call 911.

“First responders got there in about 10 minutes,” De Nardi recalls. “I had the door unlocked and was lying on the floor to make it easier for them.”

“Still, it felt like an eternity. My thoughts were ‘please stop the pain, let’s get to the hospital.’”

Within minutes, paramedics had him in an ambulance and chewing aspirin on the way to St. Boniface Hospital.

De Nardi was experiencing an ST-elevation myocardial infarction or “STEMI”. It’s a heart attack in which a clot is blocking an artery in the heart, reducing the flow of blood and oxygen.

By calling 911, De Nardi was benefitting from a co-ordinated protocol – from the telephone dispatcher to the paramedics to the cardiologist and nurses on call – that’s helped save the lives of hundreds of Manitobans since its implementation in 2008.

“Everyone at the hospital was ready and waiting – it’s a kind of magic. I went straight to the cardiac catheter lab on the second floor.”

Less than 90 minutes after the onset of pain at home, De Nardi was undergoing angioplasty, an operation in which an artery can be unblocked and widened with a small balloon, and the insertion of a stent. The relief was immediate.

It was swift intervention in perhaps half the time it would take for a patient driving themselves or being driven to Emergency. De Nardi later learned his heart had no disease save for one spot in one artery, which was maybe 30 per cent blocked.

Yet like any cardiac patient in the same circumstances, he was now susceptible to a less widely known risk: the very action of re-opening a blocked blood vessel – reperfusion – brings the possibility that the sudden rush of blood will create an injury to the surrounding heart tissue.

And four days later, an electrocardiogram (EKG) indeed showed that the apex of his heart – the tip of left ventricle – which pumps oxygenated blood from lungs to body, hadn’t regained normal function.

“I was shocked, considering how fast I got to hospital.”

A week later, a second EKG showed some improvement. Now, nearly six months on, De Nardi is determined to keep getting better.

“I’m feeling 90% of myself. That’s my feeling to have, unscientifically.”

“There’s being alive but then there’s quality of life. I enjoy running, skiing, and cycling. I go to the gym. I’m determined to live my normal life. It’s human nature to want back that final 10%.”

“My way of coping”

Toward that goal, De Nardi took it upon himself to learn more about his heart attack.

“The initial emergency care is great. Once you leave the hospital, you must keep being your own best advocate. I’ve probably read 300 hours on what happened to me. It was my way of understanding, and of coping with a lot of different emotions.”

De Nardi has high praise for all who marshalled resources and best practices to create the Code STEMI protocol, including Dr. John Ducas and Dr. Davinder Jassal of St. Boniface Hospital. That praise extends to Foundation donors, whose support made possible the research that spurred this protocol.

“The high standard of cardiac care for Manitobans is an achievement. The mortality rate for heart attacks is down. Credit to the Hospital, the Foundation and its donors, the doctors, researchers, and everyone created it.”

Research, co-operation keys for the future

He sees many opportunities ahead to raise the level of health care – cardiac and otherwise – for Manitobans.

“The Emergency Department redevelopment and expansion will help take us to the next level, but not on its own.”

He believes research underway at St. Boniface Hospital into the delivery of stem cells to regenerate a body’s tissue will lead to breakthroughs in patient care. Along with co-operation and co-ordination between all stakeholders in health care, a bold vision will make an enormous difference.

De Nardi invokes the name of Manitoba’s fourteenth premier, whose staunch support in the face of withering criticism for construction of the Red River Floodway more than 50 years ago is credited with preventing tens of billions of dollars in flood damage in Winnipeg.

“We need our Duff Roblin moment.”

Related
https://stbhf.ca/en/stories/heart-attack-survivor-proof-dial-dont-drive-works/
https://stbhf.ca/en/stories/make-the-right-call/
https://stbhf.ca/en/work-underway-on-new-emergency-department/
Stem cells and tissue regeneration


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