Dyrra Johnson

Dyrra Johnson (pronounced DYE-rah) hoped that the quadruple coronary artery bypass graft surgery he had in March would take care of his heart problems once and for all.

But Johnson’s body disagreed.

In the wee hours of July 29, 2011, he woke having a heart attack and lost consciousness as he staggered to his bathroom. His wife called EMS; he regained consciousness before paramedics arrived, but was having trouble breathing.

The specially trained paramedics of Durham County EMS initiated treatment on the way to the hospital, where Duke doctors found that three of his four grafts had practically closed. Because his heartbeat was sluggish, cardiologists installed a temporary pacemaker until they could place four stents in one of his arteries.

Johnson was able to leave the hospital in two days and was quickly back to the golf course and back to work -- with Environmental Services on the seventh floor of Duke University Hospital, home to the Cardiac Care Unit.