“The Awake! Saved My Life”

“About 10:00 p.m. on November 11,” reported Arthur, in Suva, Fiji, “I started to feel chest pains, which I passed off as heartburn. My wife, Esther, was convinced that I was having a heart attack, since she said my symptoms were similar to those described in the December 8, 1996, Awake!, “Heart Attack—What Can Be Done?,” which she had just read.

“I talked to my doctor on the telephone, and he advised me to take some heartburn medication, go to sleep, and see him in the morning. Yet, the pain persisted. I then asked Esther to bring the Awake! and read the section “Symptoms of a Heart Attack.” After she read it to me, I agreed to be taken to the hospital.

“Tests showed that I was having a heart attack, and I was admitted to the hospital. For the next five days, I was kept heavily sedated and given complete rest. The heart specialist said that I was fortunate to have detected my heart attack.

“On January 9, 1997, I underwent four hours of open-heart surgery in Sydney, Australia. ‘The coronary artery disease was incredibly severe,’ the surgeon’s report stated. The condition of my coronary arteries showed that I was heading for a major heart attack that would have come within a few months had the attack on November 11 gone undetected.

“I can say without a doubt that the Awake! saved my life, since I would definitely have passed off my attack as severe heartburn.”

Awake! endeavors to present timely and current information on a wide variety of subjects. If you would like to receive this journal regularly, make it known to Jehovah’s Witnesses the next time they call, or write to the appropriate address listed on page 5.