Our friend and co-worker, Samuel, was not feeling well Thursday morning. He decided to take himself to the clinic to get checked out. 

From there he was sent to the Victoria Hospital for an EKG test. Samuel drove himself to the clinic and the Victoria hospital. Samuel's heart rate was really low at about 45 ppm. He was transferred by ambulance to emergency at St Boniface Hospital where he was further tested and assessed. His heart rate was really low, but everything else checked out on the surface. The one thing they could tell is that his electrical pulses in his heart were not conducting properly. The top half of a person's heart sends a signal to the bottom half of the heart This signal starts your heart beat. Well, the the neural pathway between the two halves of Samuel's heart was blocked. This condition is called 'Heart Block'. It's why the elderly get pacemakers. This condition is not normal in a person the age of 37 who has been active. They don't know what caused this but are looking further. 

On Thursday night I was there with Samuel and we talked for a couple hours until I left at 12:15AM. he was conscious and trying to rest. But at 3am approximately there was a significant event. His heart stopped. They started CPR and he was transferred to ICU. In the ICU they worked on Samuel giving him CPR for 2+ hours and then putting him on full life support when his body responded around 6:00AM. Samuel was unconscious and remained so. After this, further testes were done and some remain inconclusive. Samuel was supported from Friday early morning until Saturday afternoon once the entire immediate family had been gathered.

Samuel leaves his wife of 2 years and 4 month son behind. There is no life insurance or other windfall for this young family. Please consider supporting them. A GoFundMe page has been started. https://www.gofundme.com/5vv8v5c.