On a recent morning, Dick Piersol allowed us to follow him down a corridor inside Summa’s Akron City Hospital and into a patient’s room. The man, Joseph Schlimm, was gently holding a small pillow against his chest that read “Mended Hearts…”
Piersol is a member of the Akron Chapter of the Mended Hearts, a national organization in which members offer the gift of hope and emotional support to recovering heart patients.
“I would like to tell you a little bit about Mended Hearts,” Piersol told the Silver Lake resident. “I see you have our pillow. That is our gift to you.”
Schlimm, who looked remarkably well just six days after a quadruple bypass, glanced down at the pillow, sewn by volunteers.
A pillow might not seem like such a big deal, but Brenda Kovacik, director of the Surgical Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (SICU) at the hospital explained that it brings great comfort. “Breathing and coughing is so painful that they use them to brace their incisions,” she said.
Piersol is currently the only person of the 25-member Akron Mended Hearts who is accredited to visit heart patients in the SICU. And like others in the group, he knows exactly what a patient is experiencing.
Twenty years ago, Piersol had his first open-heart operation. And in late 2011, he had surgery to insert a new aortic valve.
“Was your visit to the hospital planned or sudden?” he asked Schlimm.
Schlimm said he wasn’t convinced that he had a heart problem, but the 80-year-old agreed to a stress test.
“I knew something was fishy because I saw a wheelchair,” he explained, with a chuckle. “They didn’t even want me to walk to the door.”
For Piersol, life is a joy. The retired B.F. Goodrich executive is active, routinely exercises, visits about 30 heart patients a month and is so quick on his feet that photographer Phil Masturzo and I had to hurry to catch up with him.
“My reward is listening to the people’s stories,” said the handsome grandfather of five who will turn 90 this year. “After the operation, many feel like they have a new life. And that’s great.”
The Akron chapter of the Mended Hearts meets at 1 p.m. each Tuesday. For more information about the organization and meeting places, call Piersol at 330-256-0550.
Giving
• Time to put on those walking shoes. The Autism Society of Greater Akron is holding its annual Autism 5K and Walk on June 14 at Lock 3 downtown.
The race and Family Fun Walk will begin at 9 a.m. Vendors will provide information on local autism-related services and resources.
Register online by June 11 and save $5 off the $35 fee to run or walk the 5K. There is no registration fee for the Family Fun Walk. Visit www.akronautism5kandwalk.org.
• Friends of Ronald McDonald House of Akron will host its Friends’ Night Fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. June 19 at Gervasi Vineyards, 1700 55th Street NE, Canton.
There will be silent and live auctions, and information on the mission of the Ronald McDonald House of Akron and its connection to Akron Children’s Hospital.
Serving more than 13,000 in 2013, the house enables parents to be with their sick children during treatment. Proceeds go toward the refurbishment of the rooms at the house for children who have received bone marrow transplants and their families.
Tickets are $100, and include hors d’oeuvres, drink ticket and dessert. To make reservations, which must be received by June 13, contact Nicole Apostolakis-Heidman at 440-622-6777 or email friendsrmha@rmhakron.org.
Kim Hone-McMahan can be reached at 330-996-3742 or kmcmahan@thebeaconjournal.com. Find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kim.honemcmahan.