MASON CITY, IA (November 25, 2004) – Dave Olson has the biggest heart at First Covenant Church, and also the loudest.
Olson has a large contraption that is generating his heartbeat these days – he has been using the device since April after suffering a series of heart attacks and near-death experiences. He suffered his first heart attack on December 21 last year and four days later his heart stopped for an extended period. He was clinically dead for 28 minutes and brought back to life by doctors in Mason City.
The past 11 months have taught him much about the God he serves and this Thanksgiving he is especially grateful for his family, friends and church as he enjoys the holiday season.
Since April, Olson has been on a list for a heart transplant at the University of Minnesota Hospital. He moved to the 1-A category in recent weeks, which means he now has a better chance of receiving a transplant. While he waits, Olson goes to cardiac rehabilitation at a local heart clinic three times per week and has monthly checkups at a hospital in Minneapolis. His wife, Mary Jean (nicknamed MJ), serves as his on-site nurse and manages the large number of medications he takes. She works for Area Education Agency 267, teaching at a school for special needs students.
“I’m thankful for the possibility of seeing my kids (Nick and Daniel) grow and mature into good citizens,” said Olson. “Both of my sons are adopted, so I take a lot of pride in what they accomplish – they’re both good kids. I’m also thankful to be able to help people who are afraid of using new heart devices. I want to help them see how these devices can help extend their lives. And I’m glad to be able to share my experiences with my church family.”
Olson wears a bulky piece of equipment that includes a small computer and a series of cords attached to his heart and connecting the adjoining equipment. The $250,000 LVAD (Left Ventricle Assist Device) regulates the blood flow into Olson’s body and functions as the left side of his heart. Only the right side of Olson’s heart works regularly. It is hoped that the left side of the heart will regenerate itself to working status.
For now, Olson carries a special device that allows him to pump his heart with blood should his LVAD malfunction. He also carries two three-pound batteries when his LVAD needs recharging. You can hear his heart beat when you’re sitting in a room with him, but he doesn’t mind.
Last Christmas, Olson was at Mercy Medical Center of North Iowa following heart surgery. The stents in his heart that had been inserted on December 21 broke and for a time, Olson was considered dead. During that period, Olson said that he talked to God in a state that he believes was heaven. Two decades earlier, Olson had experienced a vision while he lived in Seattle. The vision told him of the impending death of his mother. When he heard God’s voice again, he listened carefully and was advised that he was destined to be on earth a little while longer.
“I don’t know if I was comatose or what, but I was in this big capsule that shined like gold,” Olson said. “I could hear my brothers, sisters and nephews at the hospital, but I could also hear God speaking. He told me that I wasn’t ready to be in Heaven yet – that I had more things to do here on earth – and that He would be with me through it all. I don’t know how long I was in heaven . . . five minutes, 10 minutes, 28 minutes . . . but God’s voice was the same-sounding voice that I had heard in 1982 the day before my mother’s death. It was so authoritative. And during these 28 minutes, the doctor was working like mad to get me going again. He had already told my wife that I was dead and then he went back to tell her I was alive again.”
The “second chance at life” has changed Olson’s attitude, he says. He spends more time with his children and has tried to be more available to his wife of 22 years. Olson continues to be involved with Boy Scouts of America (he has been part of the organization since 1954, when he was seven years old) and is still an active member of the River City Chorus in Mason City. He has been part of various local barbershop quartets since 1965. He retired as a bus driver for a transportation company last winter after his numerous heart troubles forced him to give up his position.
“People ask me how I knew it was God,” said Olson. “But if you know God through your prayer and through your daily life, you’ll know what He sounds like. He told me that he wasn’t through with me on earth – and I believe it. And I feel a different kind of peace of mind because I know the Lord. I know that when I die there is nothing like heaven.”
Olson said that another Covenant congregation, Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis, has been especially helpful during the times when he is in the Twin Cities for extended hospital visits. He is also grateful for the support of a number of local churches. A May 22 benefit concert at First Covenant Church raised more than $10,000 for expenses that weren’t covered by Olson’s insurance.
To learn more about the fund-raising event and Olson’s ordeal, see an earlier story published in May, Benefit Concert. To learn more about a support group for heart transplant patients, visit www.secondchanceforlife.com. The local CBS Television affiliate in Mason City, KIMT, will air a documentary on Olson in the near future. To check the schedule for date and time, visit the station’s website at www.kimt.com.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
