Forty minutes without a pulse or heartbeat. Given up as dead.
That is the experience of Ahwatukee resident Jerry Ervin – a father of three, husband to Allison Ervin and international speaker, leadership coach and trainer – after suddenly collapsing while going about his routine one day last month.
“I’m a healthy 52-year-old and yet, on June 16, I collapsed while riding a treadmill at the gym,” Ervin said. “I went 40 minutes without a pulse. When my wife arrived at the hospital at around the 38th minute, they were ready to pronounce me dead.”
Upon being notified of her husband’s collapse by the EOS gym, Allison Ervin rushed to Chandler Regional Medical Center to be at her husband’s side. The couple are anticipating their 25th wedding anniversary in December.
Her Bethel Chandler Church Pastor Mike Gowans prayed with her by phone the entire way to the hospital, while his wife, Pastor Julie Gowans, set the church’s prayer chain in motion.
Seeing her husband in the emergency room was an unsettling experience for Allison. And then, being led away to a quiet area where she was told to expect, at best, Jerry might awake with severe brain damage brought her additional angst.
It was while she was hearing these sobering words and attempting to comprehend what it meant for her and her family, another doctor emerged to proclaim they’d found a pulse.
That was the first of many miracles for Ervin after suffering a major heart attack.
“I remained on life support for a few days,” he recalled. “Some doctors informed my wife and family that the expected outcome didn’t look good. It was possible I’d be on life support for a long time or, even if I got off of life support, because I’d been 40 minutes without a