Practice English Speaking&Listening with: The Green Light: A Race Car Driver's Journey Back From Heart Attack | WebMD
SPEAKER 1: All right, here we
go.
Getting ready to start Funny Car
Qualifying coming up,
momentarily.
And Paul Lee, back on track.
great to see him back in the car
after he had some issues
health-wise.
But now he's told,
you are good to go.
He was really just starting
to make his way when a heart
attack sidelined him.
The doctors told him,
you'll never drive again.
PAUL LEE: I was on my Life Cycle
in my gym at home.
And after I got off the cycle,
I started feeling chest pains.
And it felt like an elephant was
just on my chest
within about a minute
to a minute and a half.
And I said--
Call-- 911.
I think I'm having a heart
attack.
I started losing body function.
My vision was going away.
My heart had stopped.
I didn't know that.
And the ambulance was here
at my house in four minutes.
Within 25 minutes,
I was in the operating room
getting three stints out
into my heart.
I found out later that I had
hereditary heart disease
and my LED artery, which
is the main artery
in your heart, was 100% blocked.
I had a defibrillator put
in just in case
I had another heart attack.
So, I'm just lucky in a lot
of ways to be able to survive
a Widowmaker Heart Attack, which
is the worst heart attack you
can have.
NHRA drag racing is racing Nitro
Funny cars at the top level
of the sport.
We go from zero to 325 miles
an hour in less than four
seconds.
[ENGINES REVVING]
We go to 1,000 foot with 11,000
horsepower race cars.
First time I came to the track,
I was 12 years old.
I loved it so much.
I remember the day like it was
yesterday.
And I said, that's what I want
to do some day.
30 years later, here I am, still
doing it.
And although on the starting
line, it looks like me racing
another person-- which is true
when we get
to the starting line.
But the preparation of the car,
all these guys
are an important part
of the team.
It's truly a team sport, just
like football.
Every one of those guys
has to do their job for me
to be able to go out there
and race
the other guy near the lane
and beat that guy.
My first cardiologist said,
well, you know,
you're lucky to be alive.
Forget about racing cars.
This is an 11,000 horsepower,
violent vehicle that has--
it affects your body.
[ENGINES REVVING]
The doctor told me that you're
high risk for another heart
attack.
So I announced my retirement.
SPEAKER 2: Paul Lee had
a massive heart attack.
But I am very, very glad
to announce that he is OK
and came through that OK.
Sure, he may not drive a race
car again.
But we know Paul Lee is watching
us today.
Surely wish the best for you,
continued health.
PAUL LEE: Yeah, maybe I was
a little sadder.
I don't want to say I was
depressed.
I mean, I think that's too
strong a word.
I don't think I ever was
depressed.
I'm happy that I'm alive.
But at the same time, you know,
my life's just changed.
You know, it's like,
what do I do?
I came back to work.
After I got out of the hospital,
I was back in my office
and then started my rehab, which
was exercise, eating right.
I have a lot of dead tissue
in my heart from a heart attack
because my heart was literally
stopped for approximately 30
minutes.
But what the exercise does
is help other parts of my heart
get stronger to kind of make up
for the dead tissue.
The oil pump of one
of our motors
is critical to keep it alive.
Well, just like my heart
is the same thing, it's my oil
pump to keep blood
through my body to keep me
alive.
So I try to take care
of my heart now.
Obviously, it's extremely
important for me to do that.
I had a lot of heart
palpitations for months
and months after that.
And every time that would
happen, it would wake me up
and I would panic.
And it's like, wow,
am I going to have another heart
attack?
I'm doing everything I can do
to live a long, healthy life.
And so I try not to think
about it too much anymore.
I just go and just live my life.
When we're back at the pits,
I get dressed in my fire suit
in the lounge.
And at that point, I just like
to be quiet and get my thoughts
together.
We go through the whole run
in our head multiple times.
So when we get up
to the starting line,
we're basically repeating
a mental exercise.
And the one thing
I love about sitting in the car,
being in this cocoon,
is total relaxation.
That's my happy place.
When the crew chief pulls me up
to the starting line
and gives me the thumbs up,
now we're waiting
for the Christmas tree
to come on.
As soon as I see a yellow flash.
I hit the gas as hard as I can,
let go of that brake,
and I'm starting the ride
of my life.
After about a year and a half
of rehab, I started to feel
normal again.
It took a long time.
And my cardiologist said to me,
you know,
you might be able to race again.
And I said, really?
And so what do we have to do?
So the first thing we had
to check was if there was
any interference
with my defibrillator.
These cars have 244 amp
magnetos.
That's the ignition system
on one of these Nitro Funny
cars.
He said, I want to get you
in a Funny Car, start it up,
and we'll monitor
your defibrillator
from a laptop.
And we'll see if there's
any effects.
SPEAKER 3: Looking good.
PAUL LEE: Cool.
SPEAKER 3: There's
no significant electro
mechanical interference.
PAUL LEE: Really?
Good.
SPEAKER 3: So that's good.
That's one hurdle.
PAUL LEE: OK.
SPEAKER 3: It's not
every hurdle.
PAUL LEE: I understand,
first things first.
Take one at a time.
Step one was passed.
Next step, get you in a race car
again hooked up with a heart
monitor to see your heart rate
and everything like that,
actually driving a car.
So we did that about a month
later.
And we made three runs that day.
And on the last run,
I ran my best time ever.
I ran a 390th.
SPEAKER 4: 322 miles an hour.
Nice job, Paul.
PAUL LEE: When you have a heart
attack, NHRA requires
a cardiologist's signature
to sign off on my license.
SPEAKER 3: Just looking
at the heart muscle.
And now we're-- with the colors,
we're looking at the blood flow.
SPEAKER 2: After over a year
of rehab and working
on bettering his health,
I can't tell what this means
for Paul.
This is nerve-wracking.
After all this time,
I hope it works out for Paul
Lee.
SPEAKER 3: Now we're just
looking at the heart
and the valves within the heart,
the mitral valve.
PAUL LEE: And we got back,
and they had my heart rate.
And they said, you know,
your heart's good.
SPEAKER 3: I don't see
any reason why you can't race.
There's two green flags
from our point of view.
PAUL LEE: So he agreed to sign
off on my license.
And now I was back to being
a licensed driver.
That started the next journey
of actually getting back, racing
again.
It felt great in, not only being
back on the race track
and realizing I could drive
the car no problem, but my heart
felt good.
And that was what I was
concerned with.
I had a lot of anxiety,
just worried about, is my heart
going to be able to take this?
It was great to be back.
I was so happy.
You couldn't believe how happy I
was.
When you hit the gas pedal
on one of these things,
it's like slamming you back
in your seat from the g-forces.
The ground shakes.
Actually, it measures
on a Richter scale
at an NHRA drag race.
Even if you're in the stands,
you feel it against your chest.
Every time I hear a nitro
engine, I just close my eyes.
It's music to my ears.
The tires smoke.
The drag strip has
this certain smell that only
a drag strip has.
And the people that love
the sport just
love being at the track.
There's just no other experience
for auto racing than an NHRA
drag race.
SPEAKER 2: Paul Lee got back,
got clearance, and is back
in the car
now playing with the Straight
Line Strategies Group.
And he has got
a championship-winning team
behind him.
And that, obviously,
is the goal, to get out here
and win the NHRA championship.
PAUL LEE: One of the things
that I've always realized,
and especially after my heart
attack,
it's not the racing that's
important.
It's who I race with.
Because this team is not just
my team.
This is my friends
and my family.
Because when I had my heart
attack, the one thing that was
going through my mind
as I was going to the hospital
was, I haven't had a chance
to tell all my friends
and my family that I love them.
And basically, we're all just
one big, happy family.
And that's what it's all about.
It's a team sport.
And I have a whole team
behind me.
But when I get up
at the starting line,
it's me against the other guy.
There you go, guys.
Let's do it.
And I love that.
And I want to beat
that other guy.
[ENGINE REVVING]
I wouldn't trade it
for anything.
It's the greatest sport.
