Learn more about SCL Health's Heart and Vascular Care

Not many people die and live to tell about it. Robert Mwangi did.

June 20, 2015, was his day of miracles. While helping a friend move, Mwangi, 37 at the time, stopped at a red light behind his friend in the moving truck. When it turned green, his friend proceeded. Mwangi did not. His heart had abruptly stopped beating.

Someone called 911 and in one minute an ambulance arrived. Mwangi had suffered “sudden cardiac death” but paramedics were able to successfully resuscitate him. 

“By the grace of God, I’m still here today,” said Mwangi. “If that had happened at home or if the ambulance didn’t arrive so quickly, I would not have made it.”

After his cardiac arrest, doctors installed a defibrillator to restore his heartbeat if it stopped and prescribed a beta blocker.

Seeking the expertise at SCL Health

In 2020, Mwangi moved from Aurora to Brighton, Colorado and wanted a doctor closer to his home. That’s where he met with Dr. Donald Rabor, a cardiologist with Platte Valley Medical Center.

When Mwangi had another episode, Rabor studied the defibrillator data. “He told me, ‘Robert, I think I know what’s wrong with your heart’ — something I’d been wanting to hear since 2015,” said Mwangi.

An electrophysiology (EP) study assessed the electrical activity of Mwangi’s heart and discovered an arrhythmia.

“There’s a part of his heart in the lower chamber that would spontaneously generate an electrical impulse that triggered a very fast rhythm overtaking his normal heart rhythm, resulting in circulatory collapse,” explained Dr. Rabor.

World-class heart care close to home 

SCL Health offers advanced electrocardiology services with three electrophysiologists performing EP services including ablation, defibrillators, pacemakers, and medication management, explained Dr. Ruchika D. Husa, medical director of cardiovascular services in the Denver area.

Mwangi’s story is one example of SCL Health’s world-class heart care around the Denver Metro area.

SCL Health doctors also treat heart failure, heart attacks, arrhythmia, and valve, vascular, and arterial diseases. 

Also in the SCL Health family, Saint Joseph Hospital is the only Colorado hospital to achieve the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ three-star rating (its highest) for cardiovascular surgery outcomes. Nationwide, only 1-2% of hospitals earn that distinction, Dr. Husa said.

“For being a nonacademic center, the breadth of services that we provide with these quality outcomes is impressive.”