Gene Glass experienced a heart attack in the parking lot of Hill City Pharmacy, where he works. Fortunately for the local pharmacist, Centra Cardiology Physician Assistant (PA) Anna Klein happened to be driving by on her way to work, noticed a gentleman on the ground and made a split-second decision.
Gene Glass does not recall the day he had a heart attack last July. He just knows he is “incredibly grateful and lucky” that a cardiology physician assistant from Centra was nearby when it happened.
“I had a heart attack in the parking lot of Hill City Pharmacy, where I work,” the local pharmacist shared. “I was at the downtown Lynchburg location. I don’t even remember driving to work, getting out of the car or collapsing. I was told that Anna saw me. She saved my life in the parking lot by administering CPR until an ambulance arrived. She is my hero.”
“Anna” just so happened to be Anna Klein, PA, with Centra Medical Group Heart & Vascular Institute, which is nationally recognized for safe, high-quality heart and vascular care. She practices in Lynchburg, Southside and Gretna, and has been with the health system since 2022.
The morning Gene experienced a heart attack, Anna was driving to work at a slightly later time than usual due to a change in her clinic schedule. She was on Fifth Street when she saw a gentleman down on the sidewalk.
“There were two other people standing nearby, but I couldn’t really tell what was going on,” she said. “I made a split-second decision to pull over and check on him. When I got to him, I realized he wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. I immediately started CPR.”
Within a few moments, staff from Hill City Pharmacy came outside, bringing an automated external defibrillator (AED). Someone called 911. Anna and others continued to administer life-saving care.
“I shocked him once with the defibrillator and continued CPR until EMS arrived,” Anna said.
Gene was placed on a LUCAS mechanical chest compression device and taken to Centra Lynchburg General Hospital, named one of the nation’s top 100 hospitals for heart attack care. She called ahead to notify her colleagues of the situation.
Anna is glad she was in the right place to help, but she calls saving Gene’s life “a team effort.”
“In the Emergency Department at Lynchburg General, he was seen immediately by cardiology and critical care,” Anna said. “He was then taken to the Cardiac Catheterization Lab where he was found to have multiple blockages in his heart arteries. He ultimately went for coronary artery bypass grafting that afternoon with cardiothoracic surgery.”
Anna went to the hospital later that day to check on him and continued to check in throughout his hospitalization and rehab.
Gene learned about Anna’s quick actions after he woke up several days later in a room at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital. He is grateful to Houman Tavaf-Motamen, MD, his cardiothoracic surgeon. In addition to surgery, he also received care and treatment for the extensive injuries he sustained by falling on the asphalt.
“I received very good care from everyone at Centra,” Gene shared. “I still have a ways to go, but I’m feeling pretty good now.”
He continues to see specialists at Centra, including Anna, and is working hard on his recovery. His immediate goal is to get back to Hill City Pharmacy, where he has worked since 2018. He remains grateful for Anna’s actions and jokes that on the day of his heart attack, she had a tougher day than he did.
“What she did required a great deal of physical effort and courage,” Gene said. “I’ll never be able to express the full extent of my gratitude. I didn’t know her prior to this, but I’m glad I was able to meet her afterward and say thank you. She is a very, very nice person. I’d like her as a person and as a health care provider even if she hadn’t saved my life as a way of introduction.”
Have you or a loved one received excellent care at Centra? Saying ‘thank you’ and expressing your appreciation by sharing your personal words of gratitude can uplift your dedicated team of Caregivers, be a powerful part of the healing process, inspire generosity and impact patients.
Share your story
You are providing life-saving technology
During cardiac emergencies, LUCAS chest compression systems provide continuous, high-quality chest compressions that help save lives and enhance patient outcomes.
Thanks to your support, the Centra Foundation was recently able to approve funding for a LUCAS device for the Cardiac Cath Lab at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital. Donor support has also provided devices for other Centra locations and services, including Centra One Flight Services and Ground Transport Locations in Lynchburg, Bedford, Farmville and Gretna.
Make a gift
