Denver woman called to cancel a doctor’s appointment, but that call would save her life

A woman in Denver called to cancel her doctor’s appointment when she felt ill, but it was a call that would save her life.

For many people, calls to doctors’ offices may feel like an afterthought. Kim Headley and Tonya Hopper had heard it all, but in December they got a call they’d never forget.

“I woke up around 4 a.m. and felt my chest pounding and felt really exhausted,” Launice Freeny-Brown said. “And when I woke up I said I had to go downstairs and cancel the appointment. So around 6 o’clock I couldn’t put one foot in front of the other.”

That call connected him to Headley in Intermountain Health’s contact care.

“I picked up the phone and he was talking and he was literally out of breath. It was like he would have to say a word or two and then he would have to breathe again and finally I said, ‘Are you short of breath?’ I ask. Headley said: ‘You know, so am I.’ “That’s when he told me he was experiencing the worst chest pain of his life, and another person had told me that before, and I said, ‘Oh no, he needs to talk to a nurse.'”

“He said, ‘Okay, hang on, I’ll be right back with you,'” Freeny-Brown said.

Headley reached Hopper, the nurse who had been called for help.

“He never reached out to me,” Hopper said.

Freeny-Brown was gone.

Hopper ran to call emergency contacts, but there was no answer. She called 911 and sent them to Freeny-Brown’s house, just in case.

“There was knocking on my front door and I was like, ‘Who’s at my front door?’ I said. “When I looked up I saw paramedics and the fire department were there,” Freeny-Brown said.

Help arrived within minutes after the call was disconnected and arrived just in time.

“I really appreciate him because he saved my life,” Freeny-Brown said. “And at that moment I didn’t know I was having a heart attack.”

It was help Freeny-Brown didn’t know she needed.

“I said, ‘There’s something wrong.’ But I wasn’t going to go to the doctor. I wasn’t going to do anything but stay home, and I would probably die here,” Freeny-Brown said.

Three months later and in recovery, Freeny-Brown finally gets the chance to meet Headley and Hopper. St. in Denver In the chapel at St. Joseph Hospital, he’s here to hug and “thank” the women who saved his life.

“I’m so grateful and I care so much about you both. And I owe you my life,” Freeny-Brown said.

A quick call connecting the three created a link for life.

“I’m here, I’m standing! I’m standing tall thanks to all of you. And I love you all, okay?” Freeny-Brown said.

Freeny-Brown says she’s grateful to Headley and Hopper for recognizing the signs and symptoms of a heart attack when she couldn’t. Now on the road to recovery, he’s still taking medication and trying to regain his strength, but he’s already stepped back and started running, taking extra care to listen to what his body is telling him.