A Routine Test and a Second Chance
9/29/2026
Jennifer’s Story of Heart Care at Tennova Jefferson Memorial Hospital
When Jennifer Jackson arrived at Tennova Jefferson Memorial Hospital at 9 a.m. for a routine cardiac stress test, a simple follow-up to monitor medication she was taking, it was just an ordinary day. However, it turned out to be one of the biggest – and most trying – days of her life.
Jackson began the test normally, but partway through the second phase on the treadmill, she started to feel dizzy. That's the last thing she remembers before everything changed and she went into full cardiac arrest.
Without hesitation, her care team took immediate action.
She was resuscitated and stabilized before the team at Tennova Heart placed a stent to clear a blockage no one had expected to find that day. Pinpoint cardiac X-ray imaging performed right before the stress test gave her care team a clear view of the blockage, allowing them to act fast.
"Had I been any other place, I would not have made it," Jackson said. "There was no warning. I had no feeling of having a heart attack - I simply died standing up."
What she noticed once she woke up weren’t the bumps and bruises. It was the people, especially her established cardiologist, Avinash Singh, M.D., who happened to be the one who ordered her stress test that day.
She had been seeing Dr. Singh on a routine basis for her atrial fibrillation, or a-Fib, a common type of heart arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat, and says his care goes far beyond what happened that day. Jackson said that Dr. Singh sits down and explains things fully and in terms she could understand, sketching her heart out on a dry erase board so she could see exactly what was done and why.
"He educates me as a patient," she said. "I just don't have enough good things to say about him."
That same care extended to her family. When Jennifer's husband, Garry, got the call from Dr. Singh, he was in Texas for work, a day and a half from home. Dr. Singh met her daughter, Hannah, at Jefferson Memorial until the rest of the family arrived, walking each of them through what had happened. He even took the time to talk with Jennifer's father, who has a heart condition of his own, explaining the differences between their two diagnoses so the family wouldn't worry unnecessarily.
She remembers Shelby Seals, her respiratory therapist, holding her hand through much of her recovery, and Jacob Crawford, one of the ER nurses, whose face was the first thing she saw when she came back. She was also very thankful for her ICU team that “got her everything she didn’t even know she needed”.
Jennifer was up and walking again within hours. After spending time with family and recovering with the help of her husband, children and three grandchildren, she's since returned to her work at Jefferson Elementary, where she teaches reading intervention alongside her daughter Hannah, a math teacher.
The experience has now changed her outlook on life, and given her a new perspective.
"I want to try something new every day,” Jackson said. "I try new foods now, things I would've never tried before. But at the same time, a lot of the things I valued before just aren't as important anymore, like spending hours watching TV".
Reflecting on this event, Jackson wanted one thing above all else: for her care team to know how grateful she is.
"Thank you for saving my life," she said. "Thank you for your compassion and care. I didn't feel like a patient. I felt like a person."
Your heart health matters, and a routine visit with a cardiologist could potentially be lifesaving. Count on us, and schedule an appointment at Tennova Heart today to take the first step.
Back