Bridgewater Father Of 3 Awaits Transplant After Suffering Heart Attack
A GoFundMe has been set up for Patrick Armstrong’s family to cover expenses as he is the sole breadwinner for his family.
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BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Family members of Bridgewater father Patrick Armstrong are calling on the community to rally around him as he awaits a heart transplant.
It was on Friday, May 26 when 42-year-old Armstrong suffered a massive heart attack.
He had spent the afternoon building a trampoline for his three children before heading to the gym with his family.
“He wasn’t exercising. He was in the lounge area,” said Armstong’s wife Nancy. “I heard my name being called on the loudspeakers and when I came down the stairs he was on the bench with the paramedics saying he had chest pain. He kept telling me he loves me. ‘I love you. I love you.’ Hearing him say that, I got scared.”
Armstong was placed in an ambulance. While on the way to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, the ambulance had to pull over to revive him.
He was then admitted into the Intensive Care Unit where he remains.
“Patrick suffered a heart attack that damaged his heart beyond repair,” according to a GoFundMe fundraising page set up for Armstrong by his cousin Brianne Sheehy.
Armstrong had an angioplasty to open up his coronary arteries but was too unstable to have stents placed. He was placed on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine to help oxygenate and pump his blood because his heart was so badly damaged, according Sheehy.
“The left side of his heart was not pumping effectively and they had to place an Impella device to help with the left-sided heart failure. Complicating things further he came down with the flu and pneumonia. Patrick requires a heart transplant and he needs to be stabilized and complete a workup for the heart transplant. He is looking at an extensive hospital stay,” according to Sheehy.
“We are horrified, we are beside ourselves,” said Armstrong’s mother Kate. “We can’t believe it happened. We are praying to God.”
Nancy said the hospital is working on getting him to swallow now. He has a feeding tube for food and a breathing tube was placed after his lung collapsed.
“We are holding onto God for this. It’s been a lot but he’s very positive. And we are praying,” said Nancy.
Church members, friends and family have been coming to the hospital to pray.
Kate said the church has also been sending a meal home every night for the family.
“It’s phenomenal the outpouring of love and prayers and pray the final outcome is when he comes home with a new heart,” said Kate.
Armstrong and Nancy have three children together, Cindy who is graduating Thursday from Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School and Henry who is 9 and Scarlett who is 8.
Armstrong’s parents wait at the house to get the kids off the bus and will help to bring Cindy to Penn State to get her settled while her parents remain at the hospital.
The GoFundMe page was set up by Sheehy to help with the cost of living and his medical bills as he was the sole breadwinner of the family.
“If you know him, you know Patrick is a happy, outgoing, hard-working and is a very spiritual and religious family man,” wrote Sheehy. “Keep Patrick in your thoughts and prayers as he has a long fight ahead of him.
For more information or to donate visit gofundme.com/f/patricks-heart-transplant-journey.
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