She survived a cardiac arrest. 她丈夫没有.

Danielle McCollian needed some work done at her house. 在邮局时，她在公告栏上看到一则招聘装修师的广告.

She called, he came out and that was that. They married when she was 39 and Joe was 32. A year later, they decided to start a family. 在几次流产后，她使用体外受精怀上了一对双胞胎.

She was hospitalized at 30 weeks because of preeclampsia, a type of high blood pressure that occurs during pregnancy; otherwise, the pregnancy and delivery went smoothly, and babies Gianna and Joey were healthy. When Danielle developed shoulder pain within the next few weeks, she chalked it up to carrying around two infants.

有一天晚上, 她和乔把孩子交给乔的阿姨，然后去看费城费城人队的棒球比赛. When she returned home, the pain in her shoulder was really bothering her, so Joe called her obstetrician. While he was on the phone, Danielle collapsed. Her heart had stopped beating.

乔拨打了911. Knowing 心肺复苏, he began giving chest compressions. At the hospital, Danielle was put into a medically induced coma. 医生在两条被堵塞的动脉中植入了支架，另一条则在完全堵塞的动脉中植入了支架. She was diagnosed with spontaneous coronary artery dissection, 一种罕见的心脏病发作原因，当血液流动因分离而受阻时发生, 或撕裂, in the lining of the coronary artery wall.

在医院里，丹妮尔害怕睡觉，害怕自己再也醒不过来. 她的产科医生和心脏病专家告诉她，这可能与她怀孕有关. 他们还向她保证，她从分娩中得到的更多，不会有任何后果, the more likely she'd be fine.

她的心脏功能确实恢复到了从未患过心脏病的人的水平, 生活还在继续. 她和乔喜欢花沙巴足球体育平台在一起，看着双胞胎长大.

When Joey and Gianna were about 4, Joe began having health problems. His legs and ankles swelled. He could barely tie his shoes. 他身高6英尺3英寸，体重250磅，极度疲劳、睡眠问题和胃灼热.

Heart disease was no stranger to Joe's family. 他的父亲在58岁时患了严重的中风，12年后去世. 他的母亲被诊断出患有心房颤动，这是一种不规则的心跳. 丹妮尔说，乔的血液检查显示心脏功能没有异常. Kidney issues seemed more likely.

1月. 29, 2019, Joe was home and not feeling especially well. 丹妮尔那天去上班，然后去幼儿园接双胞胎. When she returned, the house was dark; she sensed something was wrong. She told the kids to wait downstairs. 然后她找到了乔. 她开始做心肺复苏术，但他已经不在了，死于心脏骤停. 他没有确诊 心肌病.

"My own heart situation was horrible in the moment,她说, "but because I had such a good prognosis and healed quickly, I was able to move on from that. Then your husband dies suddenly."

她停顿了一下. "It's been a long journey."

丹妮尔一定要给双胞胎讲她和他们爸爸相遇的故事, to show them photographs, to share what kind of man he was. She makes sure the family gets plenty of exercise – Gianna takes four different dance classes; Joey plays football and baseball – and eats heart-healthy foods.

“很长一段沙巴足球体育平台以来，我们面对的只是生活中的一个事实:爸爸不在这里，”她说. "But now that they're older, 关于如何确保他们的心脏健康，我们已经谈过很多次了, 哪个爸爸不是."

The family's history of heart disease led Joe's sister, 艾米·诺瓦克, to become involved with the American Heart Association. She's part of her local Go Red for Women executive leadership team.

“每个人都知道有人的生活受到心脏病的影响，”诺瓦克说. “我们的家庭背景与心脏病造成的损失和幸存者交织在一起, 通过讲述个人故事来鼓励人们提供帮助变得更加容易了."

The twins are helping get awareness out, too. When they were in second grade, they brought home a brochure about the Kids Heart Challenge, 一个专注于教育孩子们保持心脏健康的美国心脏协会筹款活动.

我告诉他们, 'Oh, 我们应该这样做来纪念爸爸，并筹集资金，这样其他人就不会像我们一样没有爸爸的生活,’”丹妮尔说。. "He was a big-hearted person, a big guy with a big heart."

Stories From the Heart 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.