He survived 3 heart attacks in 4 days. This simple action may have saved his life.

As a hospital patient transporter, Tommy Bell was used to helping people get to and from procedures at the Florida facility he worked at − but he never expected to become a patient there himself.

While leaving work in November 2025, Bell, 62, felt a pain in his chest − like someone had "taken their knuckle and just slightly pushed," he described.

It subsided, then came back with more pressure. "It was more concerning this time," Bell said, prompting him to head back to the ER where he'd just ended his shift.

As soon as he flagged his symptoms, the team began a myriad of tests, which showed a buildup around his arteries and landed him in a hospital bed. 

"I'm usually the one that helped, but this time, I'm the one being helped," he said. "I felt helpless."

A stent was placed in his artery to aid blood flow, but a rare but significant complication occurred and it collapsed and clotted, leading to his first heart attack.

"I went into a fetal position," Bell remembers, adding he wouldn’t wish it on anyone. "The pain was so unbelievable."

A new stent was placed to stabilize him, and he went to the intensive care unit for recovery before heading home. But just a couple days later, a similar pain returned.

What followed comes back to Bell in flashes − his wife rushing him back to the emergency room, someone yelling "straight to the cath lab" and waking up to more news.

"When I slowly came around, I was in ICU recovery, but they had told me I had two more heart attacks," he said.

'It could have been life-threatening'

Dr. Janak Bhavsar, a cardiologist at AdventHealth DeLand who had known Bell for several years, operated on his co-worker-turned-patient. Bhavsar used special tools to break up the artery buildup with electrical pulses and placed more stents to clear Bell's additional blockages.

If Bell hadn't taken such quick action to get evaluated, Bhavsar said things could have ended much differently.

"Worst-case scenario, if he hadn't gone to the emergency room, it could have been life-threatening," Bhavsar said.

In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2023, 919,032 people died from heart disease, the agency noted, which is the equivalent of 1 in every 3 deaths.

"It's still, unfortunately, a very prevalent disease in our society," Bhavsar said, but added being proactive about your health is one way to prevent it.

In terms of heart attacks specifically, about 805,000 people in the United States have one every year, according to the CDC.

"Of these, 605,000 are a first heart attack, and 200,000 happen to be people who have already had a heart attack," the CDC noted.

Certain factors can increase your risk of heart attacks, and Bell had some of these factors, Bhavsar said.

Risk factors for heart attacks include smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, being overweight or obese and having a family history, according to the American Heart Association.

'Listen to your body'

Bell isn't sure what made him turn back around when he first felt symptoms, but he's glad he did − and he's encouraging others to "listen to your body."

"If I was younger, I probably would have ignored it, thinking (about) heartburn, but it was odd to have that pain. It was just different. Something said, 'Turn back around and check it out,'" Bell said. "I have talked to so many people who probably would have ignored it and went home and would have suffered the consequences. It was eye-opening, I'll tell you that."

Bhavsar agreed it's "always good to be on the safe side," especially if someone is feeling severe symptoms or their symptoms aren't going away.

"It's worth it in the end," Bell added. "It's going to save your life."