R.T. Rybak

While cross-country skiing in January 2014, R.T. Rybak, three-term mayor of Minneapolis and now president and CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation, suffered a heart attack after feeling ill and short of breath. He was transported to the hospital, where three drug-eluting stents were placed to open critical arteries and restore heart function. Three more stents were placed two days later.

R.T. remembers, “At first, I didn’t know I was having a heart attack. I thought the cold was getting to me after cross-country skiing, so I went to my car to warm up. When friends stopped by to see if I was okay, I had become short of breath, and I asked them to call 911. Because physicians at the hospital acted quickly, my heart did not experience long-term damage. I was feeling great again within days and back at my job.”

“My dad had a heart attack. I had a heart attack. He died. I lived. The research that took place between them is the difference. Research makes it possible for me to live a wonderful life.” Don’t miss R.T.’s full story in the video above!