Published: March 2, 2026
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Jim Allsopp brushed off the early warning signs — until his health crisis nearly cost him his life.
After the Louisville man retired in August 2024, a back injury set off a chain of health events that left him “pretty close to dying,” according to Jim.
Jim hurt himself while doing yard work, which kept him from being active for almost two months. He was taking ibuprofen, along with other pain medicines, and the then 59-year-old noticed red spots on his legs. He tried to tough it out, but his health kept declining.
His mother, Antonette, who was taking care of him during his debilitating injury, gave him an ultimatum: Seek care or she was taking his dog and moving back to Southern Illinois.
When Jim finally sought care at an urgent care clinic, providers heard a murmur in Jim’s heart and suspected fluid in his lungs. He was told straight to an emergency room and not go home.
“There were alarm bells going off,” Jim said, describing the department visit. “So at that point, I was terrified and realizing I could die while they were trying to stabilize me to prepare me for surgery.”
His family expected the open heart surgery to take five to six hours, but Jim kept encountering setbacks and hours later, he needed to be placed on a lifesaving machine to give his lungs and heart a chance to rest.Doctors, who consulted with his family, put him in a medically induced coma and on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, a type of life support, where he remained for almost 10 days.
Jim’s daughter, Marlo, a nursing student at the time, stayed by her father’s side — studying, praying, and hoping. Whenever she tried to nap while studying at his bedside, something would happen.
“He would make some movement in the bed or some alarm would go off,” Marlo said. “He did not like it when I napped during nursing school. He said I needed to study, not sleep.”
While the surgery was successful, Jim required a temporary pacemaker. After spending weeks in bed, standing up was a challenge.
“My legs were like Jell-O and looked like toothpicks. I lost 60 pounds after being hospitalized for 61 days,” Jim said.
Four people held him upright to take one or two steps. He also failed swallow tests, so a feeding tube stayed in place. According to Jim, the loss of independence, like needing help to shower and use the bathroom, was the hardest part.
An aggressive inpatient rehabilitation followed, which required hours each day of relearning how to walk.
As Jim worked through the arduous road to recovery, he discovered there was an advocate for him in those perilous moments: Bassell Alkhalil, M.D., heart failure cardiologist with Norton Heart & Vascular Institute.
“I learned that I was part of the 1% club,” Jim said. “Dr. Alkhalil was the cheerleader for this team to say we can help this guy. We can fix this guy. And he got it right.”
Jim said he owes his life to the “extraordinary” Norton Heart & Vascular Institute medical team, which included Dr. Alkhalil, David H. Rosenbaum, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon; and Mohammad F. Mathbout, M.D., an interventional cardiologist.
“What I remember most about Jim’s case is how critically ill he was when I first saw him in the operating room,” Dr. Mathbout said. “He was in severe heart failure from endocarditis and deteriorating quickly despite maximal therapy. We were running out of time, and ECMO became his best chance — a way to support his heart and lungs and buy precious time to treat his heart failure and stabilize him.
“Cases like his are challenging, but they’re exactly why specialized heart teams exist. When someone is critically ill yet still has a real chance of recovery, we lean in, not back. Every member of the team — physicians, nurses, perfusionists, everyone — comes together knowing our collective effort can make the difference between life and death.”
Thanks to the efforts of the care team, Jim started 2026 in a much better place than a year ago.
“I’m the healthiest and happiest I’ve ever been, both mentally and physically,” Jim said. “Having this second life to live is a challenge in a way, but in the best way. I feel great, and I’m going to checkups now.”
He encourages other people to take the early warning signs seriously.
“You’re not Superman, even Superman had kryptonite,” Jim said. “Make sure you’ve got a good primary care physician, talk to your primary care physician about heart health.”
Jim is turning his second chance into advocacy. He is on the executive board for a local nonprofit focused on mental health and a supporter of the American Heart Association.
Jim is also cheering Marlo on as she begins her nursing career.
“We’re stronger than ever. We’ve always been pretty close, especially during anxious moments of my life like moving away to college, and he’s always been there for me,” Marlo said. “Our parents want to care for us, and we have to take care of them. So that only strengthened our relationship.”
Heart and vascular disease, including heart failure, doesn’t always begin in the heart. Conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, sleep disorders and chronic stress can damage your cardiovascular system quietly over time.
To learn the signs, reduce your risk and take action with innovative cardiology care, visit NortonHeartCare.com.