Ice cream with a friend

This was a story of a massive amount of either angels or coincidences.

Jon Cook, CEO, VMLY&R

After the experience, Cook views life as full of opportunity to maximize every moment with the people you care about.

“There’s a realization of the last moment you have with anybody important in your life, and a lot of the most important people in my life are at VMLY&R,” Cook said. “And not to be morbid about it, but when you almost die, you think about what was the last conversation you had with this partner or that partner at your office.”

Cook received a clean bill of health with no restrictions on travel or physical activity, but he did have a defibrillator put in to shock him back to life if his heart ever stops for more than six seconds again. He owes this all to his rescuers for taking swift, brave action.

While in the hospital, Cook reunited with one of his first responders, Acharya, who continued his medical care as his cardiologist. After weeks of searching, The Kansas City Star’s feature helped him finally locate Curry, who eluded his attempts to find her via door knocking and the Nextdoor app.

Last month, Cook and Curry reconnected in person for the first time. According to another Kansas City Star piece, she had suffered her own health trauma—a brain bleed. After a long wait, they finally met at a fitting location: at the ice cream shop she was headed to when she stopped to save Cook’s life.