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The Heart of the Matter

Doctor invents new pacemaker to save his wife

It's been stated that necsssity is the mother of invention. But there has never been such a combination of deep, unrelenting love and medical imagination. The love story between Dr. Thomas Drake and his wife Carol would go on to impact millions of people with severe heart arrhythmia.  

It all began as Tom and Carol prepared for their first trip to Washington, DC to visit their son Jack. Jack and his wife Linda had moved to Washington, DC a few months earlier when Linda landed the job of a lifetime with the DC office of NASA. Linda was appointed the national director of Hubble Telescope Data. Jack had found a job as IT Manager with Big Media 7 a multimedia production company located in Reston, Virginia.

These were exciting times, and on the morning of September 17, 2017, Tom and Carol were focused on the trip and getting there before noon. They left their home in upstate New York just before sunrise. The last thing on their minds was fog. They couldn't wait to see Jack and Linda's new home in Arlington and get a feel for how they were navigating life in Washingon.

As Tom drove through the Adirondacks, he asked Carol if she remembered their first home and his first big job. Carol took his right hand in her hands as they reflected on their 42 years together. Slightly distracted by the loving touch of his wife Tom failed to slow down for the sharp right curve in the fog ahead. The pavement was wet and slippery. Tom was halfway through the turn before he realized they were in trouble. Their car fishtailed and then spun out of control crossing the center lane and crashing through the left guide rail. Rolling seventy-eight feet down the mountain their vehicle came to rest against a large maple tree.

Hi Mike and Teresa. The story goes on through the trama of the moment. It covers the incredible heroics performed that day by other motorists who witnessed the crash and sacrificed much to help. The deeds performed that day are written to inspire others to look beyond themselves to the needs of others. It's written to both hold the audience and influence them for good.

As things continue to unfold this story becomes a profound love story between Doctor Drake and his wife, Carol. Thomas recovers after months in rehab. He fights through incredible pain and suffering to be there for her. Carol is left weakened with severe heart problems. Heart specialists and Electrophysiologists try desperately to find the answer that will save her life. The Ventricular Fibrillation could take her at any moment. Carol needs a pacemaker, but the area of the heart that has been damaged will not hold the wire. And, because of her week condition, the pacemakers that they have tried has introduced a reoccurring infection around the device planted in her upper left chest.

Dr. Thomas devotes his life to keeping Carol alive while working on a new pacemaker concept that can be placed in the lower ventricles of the heart itself. He works day and night for fourteen months as Carol continues to lose strength and cardio function. He finally finishes the concept and gets approval directly from the Trump Administration to implant the the device.  This new concept is about the size of two capsules in pill form stacked on top of each other. It has a corkscrew on its head and an attachment system on the bottom — the attachment system couples to the wire which is inserted through the groin area. It then travels through the body into the heart and down through ventricles. The system Dr. Thomas has designed then allows the operator to turn the device upward and gently screw the pacemaker into one of of the lower chambers of the heart.

FEBRUARY 2020