Persistent chest pressure led DeLand man back to the ER – just in time

ORANGE CITY, Fla. — Tim Whitmore never thought of himself as fragile.

At age 66, the DeLand resident stayed active, exercised regularly, and pushed through discomfort the way he always had. When pressure began to build in his chest and creep into his neck, it didn’t slow him down at first. It didn’t feel urgent.

But it didn’t go away. Something wasn’t right, Whitmore thought.

Trusting that quiet internal warning, Whitmore went to a nearby emergency room to be evaluated.

Cardiac testing, including a cardiac catheterization, reflected what his care team could see at the time — a blockage that appeared moderate and required close monitoring. Whitmore returned home with medication and clear instructions to stay alert to his symptoms and return if anything changed.

He listened. Still, something felt off.

Days later, while vacuuming at home, Whitmore suddenly felt unwell. There was still no pain — just a heavy, unmistakable pressure and a sense that something wasn’t right. He sat down, shaken and exhausted, and realized this was no longer something he could manage on his own.

Whitmore went to the emergency department at AdventHealth Fish Memorial in Orange City for further evaluation and was later admitted, and his cardiologist Dr. Ashraf Jmeian would treat him.

“If I hadn’t gone,” Whitmore said, “it would have been a massive heart attack. Dr. Jmeian and his team saved my life.”

This time, further evaluation revealed what Whitmore’s body had been signaling all along. One artery was 99% blocked. Two others showed dangerous narrowing, including the left anterior descending artery, often called the widowmaker.

“The widowmaker has that name for a reason,” Jmeian said. “When it becomes significantly blocked, the risk to the heart is very serious.”

Whitmore’s care team would restore blood flow to his heart by placing three stents.

The findings were unexpected for Whitmore, who has lived with diabetes since he was 13 and believed he was doing everything right — staying active, eating well and taking care of himself. What surprised him most was how quietly heart disease can progress, especially when symptoms don’t follow familiar patterns.

“This wasn’t pain,” Whitmore said. “It was pressure. And if I had ignored it, I wouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have made it, but I did, and I don’t want to waste that. When you think you might not wake up tomorrow, you see things differently. You realize how much another day matters.”