Fast forward to a wintry evening in Peoria, two years later. “I was driving home and experienced enormous chest pain. It was a cold night, but I was sweating and short of breath. My left arm went totally numb.”

Brad drove himself to the hospital where blood clots were discovered in his lungs.

“Since Dr. Geiss was a family friend I asked him to come in, just to look at my chart and make sure I was getting the right care. It was Christmas Eve when he stopped by. When he listened to my story, he said it sounded like a hole in the heart.”

Brad had robotic surgery to repair the hole on Saint Patrick’s Day, a Friday. He was home by Sunday.

Looking back, Brad realizes he had never really felt completely well, even as a kid. “But I looked OK, so everybody thought I was OK. I just kept my complaints to myself. I figured this is the way life is.”

Brad is back on course, practicing golf every morning and playing 18 holes afterwards. “It’s really coming along, I play a different game now. Before I had to watch how I burnt my energy.” The summer before surgery, he remembers feeling totally lethargic. “I was getting by on Starbucks, Celebrex and naps,” he jokes.

“I’ve never felt so good in my life and I’m very thankful. It’s a miracle!”

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