Lethbridge man's cardiac arrest experience motivation behind golf tournament fundraiser
A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation.
On April 15, 2020, Amin Iqbal suddenly collapsed outside one of his downtown properties.
'Back when COVID started, some of my properties had gotten broken into, and a week later I had gotten the doors kind of fixed, and then that's when the big event happened,' he said.
The then-28-year-old went into cardiac arrest outside that property.
He says two men that were near him at the time called 911, and paramedics rushed him to the Chinook Regional Hospital (CRH).
'An embolism from one of my lungs broke off and went to my brain, and as soon as we entered into the emergency, that's kind of when I flatlined,' said Iqbal.
'I went out with a total of four minutes—a little bit more, actually, than four minutes—without a heartbeat.'
Iqbal says he was placed into an induced coma for several days before beginning the recovery process.
A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation.
A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation.
He spent time in the emergency room, intensive care unit and unit 4B at the hospital throughout his two weeks there.
'I couldn't have asked for a better support staff,' he said.
'I still remember my nurses in ICU; they were caring, compassionate—it's just stuck with me to this day.'
He began to brainstorm ways to give back to the community.
That's when he picked up the game of golf.
Iqbal is organizing the first-ever Chinook Charity Open golf tournament to raise money for a cardiac care centre in the city.
A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation.
A Lethbridge man who experienced a cardiac arrest five years ago is turning the life-changing event into a fundraiser for the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation.
'We don't realize how important something like this, especially like a cardiac department, is in Lethbridge until it impacts somebody we're close to or ourselves,' said Iqbal.
About 100 golfers will tee off on Saturday afternoon at Henderson Lake Golf Club, hoping to raise $25,000 toward the CRH Foundation's Bringing Hearts Home campaign.
'These funds are forwarded on to some of the greatest needs for health care in our region,' said Oliver Twizell, director of development with the CRH Foundation.
The Bringing Hearts Home campaign is aiming to raise $30 million in 30 months to build a cardiac care centre in Lethbridge to serve all of southern Alberta.
The tournament follows the closing of the foundation's Val Matteotti Italian Open last year, which raised nearly $2 million in its 30-year history.
'Those acts of generosity really do make the difference between life and death or better health care for the community, so what the community gives, they get back,' said Twizell.
While it's the first year for the tournament, Iqbal hopes to make it an annual event—even after the cardiac care centre is built.
He says it's his way of giving back to the community that saved his life.
'I like to think of myself as a healthy individual—I used to be in the fitness industry prior to the event,' he said.
'When this happened, it came as a shock not only to me but my family and friends. Nobody expected a healthy individual to go through something like this.
'It was kind of an eye-opener for a lot of people close to me that if this can happen to Amin, this could potentially happen to us or somebody else we love.'
Registration for the tournament is still open, but spots are limited.
More information can be found at https://thechinookcharityopen.com/.
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