By Brett Gibson, Clinton County News Staff Reporter

To say I’ve been through a lot medically would be an understatement.

To say the community came together and offered me the support I needed to heal is also an understatement, but before I get into explaining how I live in the best community in the United States, I’ll offer a background as to why I needed all that support and care.

This summer started just like any other typical summer, with softball games three nights a week and practices on the off nights.

Lucas Thacker and I agreed to help coach a 12 and under girls softball team for the Albany Independent League. The team had two of my girls and one of Thacker’s, with his other two girls being our fan club in the dugout.

The season went great and I feel the girls learned a lot, but while coaching I began to notice a lot of pain in both shoulders, with the left shoulder being the worst.

On the last night of the season, Thacker and I were getting the team warmed up with a short round of batting practice in the batting cages.

Addison Smith was up to bat and about the third or fourth pitch, she sent one flying back up the middle and I had to throw my left arm up really quick in order to keep the ball from hitting me between the eyes.

After that I knew I had torn something in my shoulder.

With all that being said, I truly believe if it hadn’t been for Smith hitting that ball up the middle and me tearing my rotator cuff, I wouldn’t be here today and for that I’m truly grateful.

After the season was over, I set up a surgery at the Med Center in Bowling Green.

On Tuesday, June 29, I went in for a simple surgery on my rotator cuff and came out fine with only low oxygen levels. I was sent home with my arm in a sling and ready for the healing process to begin.

Two days later, that healing process was sidelined a bit.

My wife, Kim Gibson, said she remembered walking down the hallway of our house into the living room and could hear me gasping for air.

I was sleeping on the reclining sofa because I couldn’t lay flat on my back and support my shoulder at the same time.

When she got in the living room and woke me up, I thought all was fine, but she talked me into going to the doctor just to be safe.

Once I got to the doctor, my oxygen levels were in the 50s, (typically they need to be in the 90s) and a cause for concern was warranted.

I can remember all I wanted to do at the time was lay down, as I was extremely exhausted.

Almost without hesitation, an ambulance was called to Dr. Carol Peddicord’s office where she and Nurse Practitioner Renee Brown agreed something bigger was happening.

I was rushed to the Med Center Albany and had blood work done, as well as a CT scan.

Nurses and doctors at the hospital did everything they could to keep me comfortable, including putting a suit, to protect them from exposure from the CT scanner, and holding my shoulder up while I was put through the CT scanner.

Reports had came back and revealed I had a heart attack sometime during the previous night, so from that point all efforts were made to get me to Bowling Green to Dr. Randy Carter.

The next few days were mostly a blur as doctors from several different specialties were in and out trying to figure out what was going on with my body.

My lungs were in bad shape, as well as my heart, which had four blockages that desperately needed repair.

After my heart cath was performed, and the damage was more clear, a balloon pump was placed inside my body to help pump my heart.

One reason for this was to give my body the rest it needed in order for my lungs to heal properly.

This process was expected to take longer than it did, but by the second day of having the balloon pump in, my lungs got a lot better and I was able to schedule the open heart surgery the following week.

One thing I didn’t learn until it was all over was how close I was to not being here anymore.

Family and friends were called in, I got to see all my girls and visit with them and I think subconsciously I thought that was going to be the last time I saw everyone … but it wasn’t.

As the days passed, it seemed they got longer and longer since I had to lay motionless in the hospital as the balloon pump did its work.

Not knowing what my fate was going to be after surgery, I had a lot of conversations with God and I knew it would be because of Him that I make it out of this. I remember telling Him, if He needed me now I was good with that, but I felt like I had more to do on this earth and I desperately wanted to made it back to my girls, all six of them.

Going into surgery, I had extreme confidence I would wake up when all of this was over. They explained to my wife I would more than likely stay under on the ventilator for several days and that would be normal.

Not knowing how long I had been under, I remember waking up and seeing the inside of my hospital room with the ventilator still in.

I had apparently come out of sedation a lot quicker than expected and got to remove the vent only hours after surgery.

Dr. Carter told me numerous times I was lucky to still be here and that the surgery had been difficult, but he had repaired everything and I should be as good as new coming out of this.

From that point on, there were some struggles on some days, but for the most part I was healing very quickly. Once my chest tubes were taken out and my oxygen stats came up, I was able to go home.

Once I got home, there wasn’t a day that went by when I wasn’t humbled at some point by the love and care of those in the community.

A food chain was started on my behalf and a different family came by every night for weeks and brought us supper already prepared and let me just say, it all hit the spot and was very delicious.

Cards were sent, people collected money and some even offered to mow our yard. One gesture was not any greater than another, but all gestures meant the world to me and my family.

I can’t even begin to name everyone in particular because I’m afraid to leave anyone out. So, to go back to my second paragraph, to say the community had come together and offered me the support I needed to heal is a true understatement.

I love being a part of this community and I strongly believe we have the best people inside the boundaries of Clinton County. For that I am truly grateful and I know I will never forget it.

Thank you Clinton County and thanks to all my friends and family for their continued support during this healing period. I especially want to thank my wife and girls for all their support and care. I couldn’t have done it without all of you.

It won’t be long, I believe I will be back to 100 percent in no time.