Man thrives after suffering cardiac emergency, waking up paralyzed

By Denise Koch

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    BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The phrase ‘medical miracle’ gets thrown around a lot, but one local man’s story qualifies.

At the height of the pandemic, infected with COVID-19, Christopher Stanley suffered a cardiac emergency that is almost always fatal. But today he’s alive to tell his story.

High blood pressure is called the silent killer, and it almost killed Christopher Stanley. His and Dr. Raghu Vallabhenini’s message:

“If you have a family history of aneurysms or hypertension or you yourself have high blood pressure, see a doctor and get it treated.”

Stanley at 31, worked two jobs: one at the docks and another at Horseshoe Casino. In November 2020, he left a shift at the casino and decided to steal a nap before his next shift.

“So I get home, lay down and, you know something’s wrong with the back of the chest area,” Stanley said. “Real tight.”

Soon, he loses feeling in both legs and is rushed to Union Memorial Hospital.

“He had very little blood flow going into his intestines,” Dr. Vallabhenini said.” He had very little blood flow going to his kidneys. He had very little blood flow going to his legs.

What he had is an aortic dissection, essentially a tear in the inner layer of the body’s main artery to the heart: the aorta. His odds for survival?

“I’d say one to two percent,” Dr. Vallabhenini said.

And there was an added complication.

“He had Covid,” Dr. Vallabhenini said. “We weren’t sure how significant stressors to the body like tears in the aorta reacted to the Covid.

Most surgeries were delayed during the height of the pandemic, but Dr. Vallabhenini decides to operate.

Two weeks later, Stanley wakes up in intensive care. Isolated, intubated, on dialysis and with his legs and left side paralyzed

“When I woke up all I could do was move my head side to side,” Stanley said.

His brother told him what happened

He said I had a tear in my aorta and it was bad it was really bad and the only thing I could do at that moment was really cry,” he said. “Being alone, I couldn’t see my family, it was really, it was really isolation.”

“Did you ever think of giving up?” WJZ’s Denise Koch asked Stanley.

“Yes ma’am, I did,” he said.

But his mother and thoughts of his daughter are the reason Chris said he had the persevere. Weeks later, he was transferred to rehab.

“That was a long journey, a long journey but I fought the fight,” he said.

And today he’s not only walking, he’s boxing.

Now at 33-years-old, there’s no smoking, no drinking, and this time he’s taking his blood pressure medicines.

Dr. Vallabhenini said Stanley’s strength of character for his remarkable journey.

“Christopher, he had a large impact on our entire health care team,” he said. “We all remember him. It’s been an uplifting story for the health care team which has struggled over the past two years trying to take care of our patients the best way we can during the pandemic.”

Stanley said he survived the ordeal for a reason.

“I am truly blessed,” he said. “I feel like God brought me back to let people know: alright, take care of yourself.”

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