Matt Crandall’s training as a lineman at Cimarron Electric Cooperative - and five minutes of driving - might have helped save his life.

Crandall, now the credit manager at Cimarron Electric, was a guest speaker at the Kingfisher Rotary Club May 21.

He told the club that one morning last September, while dove hunting, he wasn’t feeling quite himself and headed home early after feeling a pain in his chest.

After returning home, he said he began feeling significantly better.

Then, the pain returned and he fell over.

Crandall said he couldn’t breathe, he lost his vision, he was throwing up and sweating.

“I recognized what was happening from my lineman training,” he said.

He began to drive himself into Kingfisher along State Highway 33.

“I called 911 and the call dropped,” he said.

Then he called the sheriff’s department, but no one picked up.

“When they called back I told them ‘I’m having a heart attack. I need an ambulance now,’” said Crandall.

He was advised to pull over and wait for the ambulance, but Crandall kept driving until he saw the lights on the ambulance appear over the hill.

Upon arrival to the hospital the nurses cut off his camouflage shirt, “but I let that slide,” Crandall joked.

He had another heart attack after arriving at the hospital.

The doctors told Crandall that the five minutes he continued to drive himself until the ambulance arrived likely saved his life.

It was determined the cause of the heart attack was that Crandall’s “widow maker” artery was completely blocked.

Crandall said he was in seemingly good health prior to the heart attack.

He graduated from Cordell High School in 1994 where he played football, wrestled and played baseball.

Crandall even went on to play collegiately.

He continued to stay active in the years leading up to his heart attack.

He began working at Cimarron Electric in 2002 and spent his spare time fixing up cars and hunting.

“I didn’t have bad cholesterol and I wasn’t overweight,” he said.

He had a health screening nine months prior to the attack and there did not appear to be any health issues, he said.

After surgery, Crandall did 18 weeks of cardio therapy.

He completed his first week then traveled to Colorado on a trip he had scheduled prior to the attack.

Upon return, his doctor was shocked that he was in even better health than before and his oxygen levels were good.

The cardio therapy consisted of a stress test three times per week every week.

It involved running on a treadmill, weight training and yoga.

“If you ever have to do cardio therapy, do it,” said Crandall.

“It was awful, but the results are worth it.”

The doctors also advised Crandall to make alterations to his diet.

He was told to limit his carbohydrate and trans-fat intake.

Crandall said that he has cut his usual portions in half.

“I still order a 20-ounce steak at Texas Roadhouse,” he said.

“But now I take half of it home for lunch the next day.”

Crandall now has a healthier heart than 90 percent of people his age, he said.