When Manny Barbas and his wife Ellen moved from Central New York to Jacksonville in 2021, they settled into their new neighborhood and almost immediately joined our JCA community. As Manny explains, the Baptist Health Wellness Center is how he found his doctors in his new city, but he never thought being on our campus would one day save his life.
While he was attending a program with a group of JCA members in our art room this summer, Manny suffered a cardiac event and collapsed. “I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if it happened at home. My wife doesn’t know CPR and we also do not have an AED machine. The people who helped me that day saved my life.”
No one at Manny’s table that evening knew cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but his friends rushed to find help. Thankfully, our Fitness and Wellness Admin Coordinator Beshka Hoshall was at the fitness counter, PE and Sports Coordinator Alex Minardi was nearby, and Dr. Harry Abram happened to hear the calls for help. A pediatric neurologist at Nemours and Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Dr. Abram administered CPR while our JCA employees used their skills and knowledge to save Manny’s life.
“We divided roles like in the mock drills we practiced during training. Beshka began administering breaths as Dr. Abrams administered compressions. JCA Personal Trainer Tommy Collins and Membership Representative Barbara Sweet retrieved the AED machine and brought it to the studio area,” explains Alex Minardi. “Tommy unpackaged the AED and connected the wires. Then we applied the pads to Manny. All of this happened while Dr. Abram and Beshka continued compressions and breathing. Then using the AED, we administered shocks to restart the heart. Taking over for Dr. Abram, I went into compressions directly after the shock until EMS arrived.”
According to doctors, Manny suffered a cardiac arrest that day but not a heart attack. After four days of sedation and multiple tests at Memorial Hospital, doctors were still not certain but they believe a chemical imbalance, potassium deficit, and a medication used to correct the abnormal P wave in Manny’s heart, slowed it to a stop.
“I have no memory of what happened to me that evening,” says Manny. “I remember checking into the JCA and sitting down with my friends and that is it. The employees who helped, their actions and their knowledge of CPR saved my life. Doctors told me usually when a person suffers an event like this, they do not survive.”
Now equipped with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), our Maccabee of the Month is proving his resilience and perseverance while he makes his way to a full recovery. The ICD, a small battery-powered device implanted in Manny’s chest, constantly checks for irregular heartbeats and will administer an electric shock to restore his heart rhythm if necessary.
“I am thankful, and I am looking forward to getting back to the JCA to exercise and get back to the activities I like to do. I love playing golf but right now I cannot do anything with my left arm for a few more weeks until everything is fully healed,” explains Manny. “They say only one in ten people survive what I went through. It is because of where I was when this happened and the help I received that I lived. I am very lucky to be here.”
The Maccabees were the Jewish rebel warriors and heroes of the Chanukkah story. Maccabee means “hammer” and has become a symbol of physical might, spiritual strength and mental resilience in the face of adversity.
