For Kamloops heart attack survivor, Heart Month means a little more

Lyons had always been moderately active. He played basketball, went to the gym a few times a week and ate relatively healthy.

“We ate so healthy — like we grow our own food, he hunts, we don’t eat processed foods, and we can and preserve,” said Lisa Howucroft, Lyons’ wife. “It was just a shock that this would happen, to be honest.”

Lyons said he was so focused on making his business work, he let things like regular exercise slip through the cracks.

“It wasn’t enough. I thought it was okay that I would just focus on building our company and building the other companies,” said Lyons. “I led a more sedentary life and said that, ‘I’ll get to work out once I’ve done this.’ And, you know, when you do that for a year or two, it’s not good for your body.”

That was his mindset until six years ago when he suffered a heart attack while playing basketball.

“I just blacked out on the floor. I remember the lights kind of closing out, and from that point, I don’t remember anything until waking up later. It was quite an ordeal,” he recalled.

Lyons was rushed to the hospital and then transported to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.

“I did die and they did bring me back, and it happened twice in that event,” Lyons told CFJC News. “Coming back from it when I woke up, it was an amazing thing to wake up and see people staring at you.”

Despite barely escaping death, Lyons says he woke feeling more alive than ever.

“Through that clarity, you just start crying because it’s like, ‘My goodness, I’m here. What happened?’” said Lyons. “You don’t know what happened. And I think at that point you really find out how valuable it is, what you went through.”

Howucroft says she is thankful for what happened six years ago.

“It was life-changing, that’s for sure. But he survived and he’s healthier and better than he’s ever been,” said Howucroft. “I think it was a positive experience in our life in the fact that it changed our life for the better. We’re making really healthy choices and it brought us closer together.”

Since his heart attack, Lyons has been making the most of life.

“I’m up at 4:30 every single morning now. Every single morning I go to the gym almost five days a week, for sure, but probably six,” he said. “I meditate every morning for 10-to-15 minutes. I prime my body and my brain for the day to remove stress and get ready for that.”

Now he encourages others to eat healthier and elevate their heart rates every day, and says he only wished he started sooner.

“It’d be great if we could all go through this when we’re in mid-teenage years, because then I think we have our wherewithal about what we could really do with ourselves and how finite it is.”

by Sydney Chisholm

For Kamloops heart attack survivor, Heart Month means a little more

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