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How Tim Russert Saved My Life

Broadcaster's death alerted man to his own heart attack

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 8, 2008 8:53 AM CDT

(Newser) – TV producer Michael Bicks considered himself pretty healthy for a 50-something guy. But lying in bed to recover from an unusually exhausting bike ride, his thoughts turned to Tim Russert, who died of a heart attack with no forewarning. Hours later, Bicks was on an operating table for a stent implantation—having quite possibly cheated death.

"Like almost every middle-age man, I had taken a very personal interest" in Russert's death, Bicks writes in the New York Times. Like Russert, Bicks had suffered a heart attack without noticing: in his case, a bit of plaque in an artery had developed into a massive blood clot. "Because at the right moment I thought of Tim Russert," says Bicks, "I am one of the lucky ones."

Tim Russert's recent death led one man to go to the hospital, saving his life.
Tim Russert's recent death led one man to go to the hospital, saving his life.   (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)
Tim Russert speaks to the crowd during a debate between Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. in Cleveland.
Tim Russert speaks to the crowd during a debate between Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. in Cleveland.   (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)
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