EKU Head Football Coach Walt Wells reflects on heart attack 1 year later

RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - A central Kentucky college football coach is happy to be alive today.

Walt Wells went into cardiac arrest on August 28 last year.

We talked with Wells as he reflected on this day one year later.

EKU Head Football Coach Walt Wells remembers a normal Sunday morning preparing for Monday meetings, then waking up several days later.

Coach Wells suffered a heart attack in his office. He was found without a pulse.

EKU athletic trainers used an AED machine and CPR to keep his heart pumping until paramedics arrived.

“It was a miracle of all the people that were around me. The miracle is that God put all of those people right where they needed to be, and those people were trained in their job, and they did exactly what they were trained to do, without fault,” Wells said.

Now, reflecting one year later, Coach Wells says he tries to make every minute count.

“You don’t wanna waste minutes. Because you realize how quickly things can be taken away from you, and your time on Earth is done,” said Wells.

Coach Wells didn’t waste any time getting back to the team. One week after his heart attack, he was at practice with a cracked sternum and broken ribs, a result of the CPR.

“They say if they don’t crack your ribs and break your sternum, they’re probably not saving your life,” said Wells.

Coach Wells credits his survival to the people and protocols in place around him, but he says going to the doctor regularly is just as important.

“It’s very important that people understand you’re not invincible,” said Wells. “You’re not going to be the one that avoids everything and go get checked out.”

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