Jimmie "Dale" Horton: Against All Odds

Dale Horton, a young 48-year-old, has been a pilot for 27 years. Preparing to captain a flight from New York to Tokyo, Dale received a call he had the day off and did not have to fly. At that moment, Dale felt lucky for the extra time at home, but little did he know how far this “luck” would take him.

On the way to pick up his son from school, Dale called his wife, Kris, to mention he was not feeling well. Not thinking much of it, Kris advised him to go home and take some aspirin. Once home, Dale was still completely restless, so Kris decided to drive him to the hospital. They did not reach the end of their street before Dale collapsed in the passenger seat, suffering a massive heart attack.

This is the last of what Dale remembers before waking up seven days later; however, the events in between are engraved in Kris’ memory.

Kris began to perform CPR when a stranger drove by and saw the desperation on her face. After turning around to help, the two performed CPR for seven minutes until Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrived. EMS worked on Dale, doing everything they could to restart his heart. After 20 minutes without regaining a heartbeat, in line with EMS protocols, Dale was transported to the emergency department at Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC). Dale was loaded into the ambulance when his heart spontaneously restarted thanks to the ongoing support of the EMS team.

Upon reaching the cardiac unit, still unconscious, Dale received three stents and was treated with an Arctic Sun medical device, drastically lowering his body temperature to help preserve brain function.

In the days that followed, hospital staff slowly raised his awareness and brought him off the ventilator. Eventually, Dale awakened, and though he did not recognize his environment, he recognized Kris.

As Dale performed simple exercises to see what brain activity remained, he shockingly returned quite strong from a memory perspective. Given a one percent chance of surviving the heart attack and an 80 percent chance of being in a persistent vegetative state, Dale truly defied the odds. “Without the hospital, I wouldn’t be here,” he states.

Now, Dale maintains his pilot license and watches his three children, all pilots, follow in his footsteps. Dale is forever grateful to the people at Orange County Fire Station 72 and the emergency team at Orlando Health ORMC, saying, “Thank you for not giving up. They never quit trying.”