Sherry Haas Gets Life-Saving Cardiac Care

Sherry Haas from Lehighton believes that a series of small miracles saved her life.

Last October, Sherry felt something was very wrong and called 911. Jason Peters, an EMT with Palmerton Community Ambulance, was the first to arrive. It was his first day back after working with another ambulance company. Sherry was awake when Jason and his partner, Kyle Behler, got there, but within five minutes, she went into cardiac arrest.

Jason performed chest compressions until the paramedics arrived and used a defibrillator and injections of epinephrine to revive her heart and blood flow. She was rushed to St. Luke’s Carbon Campus where she was stabilized, and then Life Flighted to St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus, where she went straight into the catheterization lab and underwent an angioplasty and cardiac stenting from interventional cardiologist Kimberly J. Wilson, DO.

St. Luke's Heart & Vascular is an eight-time nationally ranked 50 Top Heart Hospital dedicated to delivering unmatched, patient-centered care. From the most complex cases to routine procedures, St. Luke's embraces innovative technologies to deliver the highest quality outcomes for all heart and vascular conditions. Leading the region in heart and vascular care, St. Luke’s continues to pioneer new and advanced surgeries.

Sherry, who was president of the Palmerton School Board at the time, doesn't remember anything from her ordeal, even the day before when she helped finalize a contract for the new school superintendent. When the vice president called her about it about a week after she got out of the hospital, she asked if they did the contract without her, never remembering her part in it.

“The strange thing is I have no memory of anything,” Sherry said. “I’ve been piecing everything together from what everyone else has told me, and from call records on my phone that I have no recall of making. My EMT, Jason, was my guardian angel. He saved my life multiple times before I even got to the ER.”

Before her cardiac event, Sherry, 62, was completely healthy and not on any prescriptions or under any medical care. Her heart attack wasn’t a traditional one from arteries being clogged. Instead, she had some arterial plaque break off, which resulted in a blood clot forming to block the flow of blood. Though it’s not all that uncommon, it’s something that receives little attention in the media.

She is wearing a LifeVest, a device that monitors her heart and delivers a shock if a life-threatening arrythmia occurs. She won’t have to wear it anymore once she receives an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator by electrophysiologist Steven M. Stevens, MD.

In addition to the interventional cardiology she received during her emergent care, Sherry utilized cardiac rehab at the St. Luke’s Lehighton Campus. Because of the extensive damage to her heart, she is also receiving follow-up care with cardiologist Mary Donna, Cruz, MD, who specializes in heart failure.

Sherry has special appreciation for Logan Paff, her Cardiac Care Unit nurse, who kept her family – husband John and daughter Laurette – informed of everything that happened and was happening.

Today, she and John go for walks with their Siberian Husky CrystalBlu. Neighbor Millie took care of CrystalBlu during the days Sherry and her family were in the hospital. And she can’t wait to reunite with all the team members who miraculously came together to save her life.