"Changed my whole life": woman collapsed after heart attack, saved by North Port Walmart employees
Mary Ann Disanzo walked into her local North Port Walmart store on April 10 after getting her usual 2-for-1 dinner deal at Perkin’s with her husband of 50 years.
She and her husband were going to grab some groceries at the 17000 Tamiami Trail store and look for a new geranium to replace the dying plant outside her home. As soon as Disanzo stepped into the store, she felt an overwhelming wave of lightheadedness. She walked toward a register stand to lean on.
“Are you okay?” a Walmart employee asked her.
It's the last thing she remembers before everything went dark.
Disanzo collapsed and went into cardiac arrest, less than three weeks before her 79th birthday. Walmart employees, Suzan Martucci and Tanya Frener, sprung into action and began life-saving care.
Walmart employees and EMS responders gathered alongside Disanzo on Thursday (April 25) during her birthday. She’s a Boston native, but she has lived in North Port for 12 years. Disanzo has since been recovering after having a defibrillator and pacemaker put in.
“It changed my whole life,” Disanzo said. “It gave me my whole life. I would be dead if it wasn’t for these two people.”
North Port Fire Rescue personnel responded to the store around 5 p.m. and initiated advanced life support care. Disanzo regained a pulse within a minute, and she was able to speak within five minutes.
“If not for the quick thinking of the Walmart employees, this outcome could have been very different,” EMS Division Chief Brian Gorski said. “Their response, partnered with the exceptional care provided by our Station 82 C-Shift crew, put this patient in excellent hands.”
What sticks with Disanzo is wondering what would’ve happened if she walked into another Walmart store? What if It happened while she and her husband were in the car? She’s not too sure she would still be here if it did.
She hopes that first aid and CPR training will become common knowledge. If the employees didn’t render aid, it’s possible that she would’ve had brain damange, Disanzo said.
After the unexpected heart attack, Disanzo was in the hospital for four days. The near-death experience has made her reexamine her life. Why me? Why did I survive? Disanzo asks herself. She’s determined to make the most of whatever time she has left and live a slow and intentional life.
“If you don’t make the most out of every day, you can die having not enjoyed life,” Disanzo said.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Woman collapsed after heart attack, saved by Walmart employees
