Anyone who has ever met Bob Hood would certainly say the guy is in good shape. He is active, a professional rescue diver, an airport administrator, and a very animated K9 trainer and Instructor. Bob works out, swims, runs...the gamut. But inside his heart, genetics dealt Bob a different verse. Bob is prone to high cholesterol and didn’t even know it. Reaching the 40's, has brought that genetic power into play. It nearly cased his life to end abruptly. Fortunately, for all of us who care about him, and those handler's who need him, it didn't.

On November 13, 2006 ASCT Instructor Bob Hood (Oregon) was called out to conduct a search and rescue track. Bob responded and tracked for approximately four hours, feeling confident of the track and locations indicated.

Along the track, periodically, Bob found his chest feeling a bit of pressure, though very slight and more symptomatic of a cold starting than a heart problem. He and his K9 completed the track with a location direction for rescue teams, where Bob advised them..."they people are up there in that area." Eventually,, the search team arrived at the directed location and the rescue was a success.

That track could have been Bob's FINAL track had things turned out differently a few days later.

On Thursday the 16th Bob headed for the frigid, pacific ocean for a rescue dive training operation. During the training, Bob again sensed the feeling he was coming down with a chest cold (or similar) but again, nothing out of the ordinary, at least not enough to worry him.

On Saturday, November 18th, Bob awakened feeling sluggish. As he got out of bed, he noticed that both of his elbows were sharp. He had acute pain in the elbows. But being a K9 trainer, he sensed that somehow he had simply pulled them, irritated the tendons, likely something of that sort. He shook off the pain and worked the elbows to free up the soreness (anyone who knows Bob can picture this action...always recalling how he was the one who went UNDER WATER to escape a K9 during a survival class AND how he once rolled his ankle badly during an apprehension, screamed out a little, jumped up, and was ready for the next apprehension). In short, Bob's a resilient guy.

As Bob shook off his elbow pain, walking a few steps, he suddenly felt his entire body seize up on him. His arms and legs felt as though the were retracting to a point of breaking, his chest felt as though an elephant was sitting on him, he couldn't breathe and could barely even speak. The pain was the most intense he has ever felt. He knew this was extremely bad.

Bob managed to stumble to his sofa, where he tried to relieve himself of some of the pressure. His only relief, though extremely limited and not effective, was to put his entire weight onto his chest - while kneeling onto the sofa. Not able to get up, not able to call out, unable to reach for a phone for help, Bob's life was closing quickly.

His heart was totally blocked. Completely.

Veronica Hood is Bob's wonderful wife (we all know that too - anyone having met her). She has single handedly made his life a happy, satisfied one. And now, she saved his life. Veronica had heard the commotion and ran to investigate. She immediately called 911 and encouraged Bob all the way through the hospital ride and the hospital response.

In the emergency room, doctors were panic stricken. The surgeon arrived and advised Bob and veronica that Bob was in very bad shape and the situation was grave. It didn't look good.

The heart had already suffered a massive amount of damage from the blockage. However, Bob would maybe survive the damage but he would not survive a blockage. Seconds were precious. Bob hood's life had come down to a mere few seconds of 50/50 potential.

The surgeon performed angioplasty and applied a stint. Bob recalls the incident, "I was on Morphine but still felt the pain. I recall the doctor moving me to try and break though the blockage. I was hanging on but really unsure if I'd be there a moment later. Then, the pain and pressure released. And the doctor looked at me and said the blood was flowing again and my face was again getting blood in it. He said it was a really close one."

After the frightening experience, Bob learned that the surgeon was doubtful of the possibilities initially. "He told me that had I not been in the shape I was in that I would have certainly not made it through." Bob said.

Bob has now been released from the hospital and is battling the drug interactions that cause so many side effects (passing out, Etc.) However, we are so pleased to report that Bob has passed a stress test, his heart damage is not as severe as expected and what has been damaged - is now being repaired by his exercise and diet.

Bob has returned to work, as of January 17th. He is more than capable of doing all the things he loves to do, including K9 training. However, there is one major limitation. Bob has had to give up diving. The frigid water. in connection with the pressure, simply is too much for his damaged heart. However, he will still be participating in swimming drills and workouts with his beloved dive team.

ASCT is so very proud of Instructor Hood for the courage he has shown throughout his ordeal. Thank you to Veronica for being there for him, the surgeons for their competent, swift actions, and to Bob himself for allowing us to share this story.

We hope that this event will inspire us all to be active, eat better, and have ourselves checked for cholesterol levels.

Please have your cholesterol checked immediately and keep yourselves fit. We cannot live happy if we are not healthy.

Take care of yourselves.