Chillicothe — Councilman Dustin Proehl finally returned to council Monday, after suffering a heart attack just before New Years.
He said if he had rolled over in bed like he wanted to – with all the pain shooting through his chest – he would have died. Instead, he said his wife and daughters convinced him to go to the hospital immediately…which caught his heart attack just before it caused permanent damage.
The at-large councilman of 18 years says he will be retiring from council this year, whether it’s at the end of his current term at the end of the year, or sooner.
“There are still some projects I want to see through,” he said – but he has a daughter born the year he was first elected who is graduating from high school and going into college, and Proehl said there are “lots of new adventures for me and my family.”
He said the heart attack caught him off guard – he had had a stress test and echocardiogram a few months before that gave no warning of an upcoming 100% blockage of one of his arteries, and 60% blockage of another.
Proehl advises that if you if feel something is not right, get it checked out immediately, and don’t be embarrassed to call the squad. He said getting to the hospital fast helped save his life.
Hear him in his own words in the interview video below.
