Complex procedure saves officer with chest pain, heart condition
Transit Officer Paul DeGeorge thought his son was lying on him. Then he realized something much scarier was happening.
When Paul DeGeorge felt pressure on his chest in the middle of the night, he thought his 4-year-old son was lying on top of him. DeGeorge had fallen asleep on the couch after coming home late from his job as a police officer, and it wouldn't be unusual for the boy to snuggle up next to his dad.
But when DeGeorge opened his eyes, his son wasn't there. The "crushing weight" remained.
"That was like, 'Oh my God, something's up here,'" the 49-year-old DeGeorge said.
He wasn't sure what could be wrong. He was healthy and active. He did jiujitsu and coached his kids' sports. He was on his feet all day at work as an officer with the Special Operations Division for New Jersey Transit, the state's public transportation provider. He had no family history of heart disease. To be safe, he drove himself to the emergency room at Atlantic Health Morristown Medical Center, where doctors "ran a whole battery of tests." For days, he had no answers.
"I was terrified. You don't know what they're going to find, what's going on," DeGeorge said.
Then a cardiologist realized that something was wrong with DeGeorge's aortic valve. The aortic valve controls blood flow. Typically, it has three flaps that open and close with every heartbeat. DeGeorge had just two, a condition called bicuspid aortic valve. It develops in the womb and can cause issues with blood flow or put the aorta at risk for tearing.