Montgomery resident Cliff Green this year had his best birthday yet.
“It was the best birthday because I shouldn’t be here to celebrate it,” Green said as he marked 60 years on Sept. 7.
On Jan. 2, Green experienced a massive heart attack at his home followed by a very rare 60 minutes of CPR at St. Luke’s Health-The Woodlands, five surgeries and eight weeks in the ICU complicated by a brain hemorrhage, renal failure and a bleeding colon.
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In mid-April, Green was able to return home to his wife, Patty, their children and grandchildren.
“After what happened to me, that was 100 percent a miracle. There’s no doubt in my mind that miracles exist,” he said.
On Sept. 7 at his home, Green was baptized in the family’s pool along with six members of his family by Greg Johnson, pastor of Restoration Church near the Green’s home.
“I told the pastor, for the rest of my life I intend to walk the walk (with the Lord,)” Cliff said.
Non-spiritual upbringing
Green grew up in Houston. His mother was Baptist, but his father did not attend church.
In high school, he read the entire Bible.
“I had questions, but there wasn’t really anyone there to help guide me through that,” he said.
In high school a 14-year-old girl named Patty with long brown hair caught his attention. He was supposed to be talking to Patty for his friend, but Green liked her too. She thought he was very sweet.
The two married in the Catholic church which was Patty’s tradition in Houston in 1985.
They then made their home in Spring where they raised one son and three daughters before moving to the Fish Creek Thoroughfare area of Montgomery County 10 years ago.
The night that changed everything
The Greens spent New Year’s Day 2023 at their son’s house and had a wonderful day with family.
Patty Green said for days leading up to his heart attack, Cliff had been having some issues and ended up in a nearby walk-in emergency room.
“They checked him over pretty thoroughly. Later the team at St. Luke’s said they would have done the same things. At the time he was not having a cardiac event. So that took heart attack off the table for us,” she said.
So, they continued to treat him for acid reflux-type symptoms. In the middle of the night on Jan. 2 and unable to sleep, Cliff went to watch TV in a big chair in their living room.
At 3 a.m. Patty, woke up to loud screams coming from their living room. She found her husband on the floor writhing in pain.
“He was not very coherent. He couldn’t really talk to me. He was moaning and groaning. He wasn’t clutching his chest or anything, but he was sweaty,” she said.
A medical miracle
EMS arrived within minutes and called ahead to St. Luke’s Health-The Woodlands with instructions to prepare for a massive heart attack patient.
They rushed him straight to the hospital’s cath. He lost a pulse and his heart stopped. His right coronary artery was 100 percent blocked. The medical team began CPR which continued for an hour.
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“It is not every patient that can survive 60 minutes of CPR,” said St. Luke’s heart surgeon Dr. Vivek Patel. “The EMS team and hospital team did an outstanding job caring for him, including performing effective CPR. And Mr. Green had an amazing will to live.”
He received a stent to open the artery.
Patty described the following time as “really horrific,” but she and their children never gave up hope, nor did his team at St. Luke’s. As the doctors tried to pump blood to his heart and chest, blood flow was drawn away from his extremities and he lost his right leg below the knee. His left leg continues to heal from the same process.
Giving glory to God
“We absolutely give the glory to God, every bit of it,” Patty said. “He put these doctors in the right place at the right time and put everything in motion.”
In June, the Greens were able to reunite with the paramedics, doctors and nurses from St. Luke’s who saved Cliff’s life.
The reunion moved him to tears.
“That was surreal. To find out that I had that kind of impact on that many lives. It just tore me up. I’m extremely, extremely grateful to the entire staff at St. Luke’s and grateful to God,” he said.
Now, Cliff wears a silver chain with a silver cross as an outward sign of his faith. It was a birthday and baptism gift from his daughter, Hannah.
He believes he was spared for a purpose and he and God are in discussions about just what that is.
“When I wake up, I say to God ‘thank you for this day and help me figure out what your purpose is for me,’’ Cliff said.
