Tender Mercies

so i got a phone call yesterday morning at 7:00 from a friend of the family telling me that everything was going to be fine but that my dad had a heart attack. not really the kind of news you want to wake you up first thing in the morning. i guess what happened was that my family went for a walk at five (yes, that's five A.M.). my dad started this a week ago to try and get my sisters to exercise and get up earlier. he had to come home early because he wasn't feeling well. after taking soda water for what he thought was heartburn and finishing scripture study, he told my mom that she was going to have to take him to the emergency room. she went to get dressed and he called for her and told her to just call 911. the paramedics got there and after assessing him said that he was having a heart attack. i heard that my dad kept very calm and tried to reassure my sisters and mom by winking at them and waving goodbye. but it really didn't help my sisters - especially kenna and kinsey - to see him hooked up to oxygen and wheeled away on a gurney. michelle told me that kinsey was crying and saying "don't take my daddy" to the paramedics.
meanwhile i was asleep and none of my family thought to call me. so all i heard was that he had a heart attack but was going to be okay. but i was fearing the worst and all i could think about was that my dad is way too young for a heart attack, way too young to die, and that i'm pregnant with the first grandbaby that he might not get to meet. kyle helped keep me calm before he had to go to school, but i broke down on the way to my parents house. my sisters stayed home from school all day. we had so many people from the ward and family come over to see how we were doing, help us clean or cook, or make sure we weren't left alone. kyle took work off and it was comforting to have him there with me. everyone was so amazing. i am so greatful to have so much support from people who know and love my dad and our family.
the cause of the heart attack was a clot in a main artery behind dad's heart. instead of surgery that would've taken a long recovery, doctors used a procedure that took a catheter from the top of his leg, through his artery, to the clot and dispersed it. they left a stint in the artery to keep it open and checked for any other clots. at this point he is in the hospital for recovery and observation and he guesses he'll get out tomorrow or saturday.
my uncle who is a firefighter said that if my dad had waited a couple of hours more to go to the hospital, he would've died. he said that most people try to be strong and think that they can handle the pain, not knowing that they're having a heart attack and that the longer they wait, the weaker their heart gets until it can't recover.
thank goodness my dad's heart is showing no signs of permanent damage. thank goodness my dad was smart and played it safe by getting an ambulance to the scene. thank goodness my dad decided to start walking a week ago so that he was awake when the pain started. if he wasn't awake, he possibly could've died in his sleep. heavenly father gave us so many tender mercies yesterday, so many things could have been different, but we are so blessed. if we just live right and do the few simple things we are asked to do we will be blessed in countless ways. i don't thinks i could emphasize that enough. i am so greatful for family, friends, the gospel, and that my dad is still here. obviously this happened for a reason, and my dad is still here for a reason when he came so close to dying. i'm so greatful things turned out the way they did. we are so blessed.