Murfreesboro, Tennessee, resident Leigh Anne Clark and her husband, Randy, had a great evening at GEODIS Park in Nashville planned to celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary. She was proudly wearing a new T-shirt honoring her favorite Nashville Soccer Club player, winger Jacob Shaffelburg.
The couple had primo seats in section 116 and were amped to see NSC continue its winning streak at the May 14 game against defending Eastern Conference champion, the New York Red Bulls.
Everything was perfectly wonderful. Until it wasn’t.
“I began feeling ‘not right,’” Clark said. “I was nauseous, had a slight headache and just did not feel like myself. We went to get a soft drink, and the feeling continued. We settled back in our seats, stood for the national anthem and saw the game begin. But a few minutes later, I told my husband, ‘We have to go. I just don’t feel right.’”
They walked up the stairs to the concourse before extreme dizziness overtook her. She sank down to the concrete floor.
Within minutes, the couple was surrounded by members of the stadium security team who quickly called the on-site Vanderbilt LifeFlight Event Medicine team. LifeFlight Event Medicine provides EMT and paramedic-level EMS response at Nashville-area sports games and special events such as festivals.
Neil Worf, MSN, RN, FNP, EMT, a flight nurse practitioner with LifeFlight, was working an extra shift with the LifeFlight Event Medicine team at GEODIS Park. When he responded,
Clark was perspiring and having difficulty breathing. She was taken by wheelchair to a nearby first aid station in the stadium for a rapid assessment.
“My blood pressure was taken, an EKG taken … They were all doing different tasks as they assured me and treated me,” Clark recalled. “Part of this team also talked to my husband. After a few minutes, they decided I needed to go immediately to the hospital.”
Stephan Russ, MD, associate professor of Emergency Medicine and executive medical director of Vanderbilt LifeFlight, was the senior attending physician in the Vanderbilt University Hospital emergency department that evening. When he received the results of Clark’s EKG (a recording of the heart’s electrical activity), he told Worf, “That doesn’t look good,” and he set the next steps in motion to save her life.
Clark was informed she was having a heart attack as the LifeFlight Event Medicine crew rapidly transported her to the ED.
While chest pain is the symptom most often associated with a heart attack, women can experience this health emergency differently than men with:
- unusual fatigue or weakness,
- dizziness,
- anxiety,
- nausea,
- shortness of breath and
- pain in the shoulder, back or arm.
Looking back, Clark now remembers a recent moment when she experienced what felt like a panic attack. She sat in her car, took some deep breaths, then went about her day. Now, she believes it was a warning sign that something was seriously wrong with her heart.
“I want to say to women, ‘Listen your bodies and be your own advocate,’” Clark said. “I knew something wasn’t right. My husband listened to me, and everyone took what I was experiencing seriously.”
Clark was taken to the VUH cardiac catheterization lab, or cath lab, where a team led by interventional cardiologist, Leah Raj, MD, director of Complex PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention), was waiting for her. In the cath lab, heart function is thoroughly evaluated, and minimally invasive techniques can be performed to treat cardiac issues.
Clark had suffered what’s called a STEMI (ST elevation myocardial infarction), a severe heart attack in which a major cardiac artery is completely blocked. In her case, the distal right coronary artery (RCA) that supplies blood to the bottom of the heart was 100% blocked. Additionally, her left anterior descending artery that supplies blood to the front of the heart was 70% blocked.
Raj successfully reopened Clark’s RCA with a stent, a small scaffolding placed inside the artery. The following day, Raj placed a stent to open the second artery.
“The doctor told my husband that my heart was weak, but that there was not damage because I was able to get help so quickly,” Clark shared. “Because of the amazing work of the security and medical teams at GEODIS Park on May 14 and the work of the amazing team at Vanderbilt, I am OK — crazy OK — given I had a heart attack. It is hard to say those words and hard to believe that I feel as if nothing happened. I feel that good.”
Clark is a professor of Management in the Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University, and within a week of her heart attack and stent placements, she was back teaching a daylong leadership class.
She is now under the care of cardiologist Barinder Hansra, MD, at Vanderbilt Health’s Women’s Heart Center and is beginning a program of cardiac rehabilitation to improve her recovery and cardiovascular health.
Clark and her husband also got back to their interrupted celebration of their 29th wedding anniversary, opting for a nice dinner out this time, reflecting on the miracle of having all the right people responding at the right time with just the right care.
“They not only saved my life, but their excellence saved the quality of my life,” Clark said. “For that, I can continue to be a wife, mother, daughter, sister and teacher.”
“And I want to mention the importance of everyone doing their part, whether it be taking blood pressure or getting an IV going; it might not seem all that important, but it can have huge impact. In my case, the minutes mattered. I went home in two days, and my only restriction was to not drive for a few days. In some ways, I feel like I didn’t miss a beat.”
Worf and Russ, who both stopped by to check on Clark while she was hospitalized, credit the rapid response of all involved for her great outcome.
“We have a bunch of brilliant, talented individuals that work on our Event Medicine team,” Worf said. “And then just the entire Vanderbilt system — the EMTs, RNs, nurse practitioners, physicians — they all come together for our patients. There are a number of links in the chain that make it all work. It’s a great system, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
The seamless collaboration throughout Clark’s medical emergency is indicative of the dedication of all who responded, according to Russ.
“Our partnership with GEODIS Park is more than just a collaboration; it’s a commitment to the safety and well-being of every fan who walks through those gates,” Russ said. “Having trained medical professionals on-site ensures that we can respond swiftly and effectively when seconds matter most. This recent intervention is a powerful reminder of why this partnership is so vital. We’re proud to stand alongside the GEODIS Park team, both on and off the field.”
Additional bonuses to Clark’s story: When the ED team asked permission to cut off her beloved Shaffelburg T-shirt, Clark asked them to please not as she wanted to wear it to the next NSC game. They carefully slipped it off unharmed. And NSC defeated the rival Red Bulls that night for the first time in the club’s history.
NSC officials have since heard about Clark’s story, and the couple has been invited back to attend another game next month, compliments of the club. She’s sure to be wearing her lucky T-shirt.
“When fans visit GEODIS Park for a Nashville SC match, concert or event, we take seriously our responsibility to do everything we can to keep them safe so they can enjoy a memorable experience,” said Nashville SC Chief Business Officer Lindsey Paola. The amazing work done by GEODIS Park staff and our partners at the Vanderbilt LifeFlight Event Medicine team when Mrs. Clark suffered a medical emergency is a testament to that mission, and we are thrilled to welcome her and her family back to our stadium in July and in the future.”
