By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
Last summer, Walt Morris learned a lesson that he now wants to teach other people.
The longtime basketball coach and Noblesville native was having several episodes of neck and jaw pain, and it came to a breaking point on July 25, 2022. Morris soon learned he had an aortic dissection, which required a lengthy surgery.
But Morris got through the surgery, and now wants to spread the word about the symptoms, and the need to get help right away – something that saved his life.
“I don’t want anybody else to go through what I did,” said Morris. “I’m fortunate to be here.”
Early symptoms
A couple months prior to his diagnosis, Morris said he was having episodes where he was having trouble swallowing and started sweating. He was also having neck pain and “a lot of jaw pain.”
“I blew it off, which wasn’t smart,” he said.
On that fateful day, Morris said he had just finished a three-mile walk/run. When he got home, he was experiencing “jaw pain from my ear to my jaw,” that he said knocked him to the ground. A man tried to help him up, but he walked back to his house.
Once he got home, he told his wife Lisa, who immediately got her husband to Riverview Health in Noblesville.
Morris participated in a series of tests that lasted the entire day. The doctors kept him overnight so he could have an ultrasound electrocardiogram (EKG) test. What was supposed to be a half-hour test lasted a minute and a half, after which they diagnosed Morris with an aortic dissection, in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the aorta, which is the body’s main artery. The ensuing rush of blood through the tear causes the inner and middle layers of the aorta to split, or dissect. (More information is available here from the Mayo Clinic.)
Minutes later, Morris was in an ambulance for a drive to Ascension St. Vincent Heart Hospital in Carmel.
“That was a bit surreal,” said Morris. He remained calm and said prayers for his family during the ambulance ride, which Morris estimated took about 15 to 20 minutes.
The surgeons and staff were waiting for Morris when he arrived. The resulting surgery took 11 hours, but when it was done, Morris said “those incredible doctors somehow saved my life. Most men, you find them somewhere.”
While the surgery was a success, it also required a few months for Morris to recover. That included getting back to his assistant coach duties with the Carmel boys basketball team, helping head coach Ryan Osborn.
“I thought I wasn’t going to be able to coach and a lot of things were over,” said Morris. “Coach Osborn was very patient.”
“It was definitely a scary situation,” said Osborn. “I think we’re very fortunate that his wife was home and knowledgeable of the situation, and able to get him the care that he needed.”
But by late September, Morris was able to get back to business with the Greyhounds.
“It takes a while,” said Morris. “You get your body opened up like that. It was scary for a while.”
The 63-year-old Morris’ main message with his story is that if anyone is having these symptoms, they need to get checked out right away. Morris was going through his daily routine in the months prior to his aortic dissection, but ignored the symptoms.
“I was physically active, worked the whole month of June,” said Morris. Meanwhile, he felt those symptoms and “blew it off.” He noted that the same condition can happen to “very active people, some of them in much better shape than I am. If you have this, it doesn’t matter.”
Another important aspect is family history. If patients mention that someone in their family have a history of this condition, a test will be set up quickly.
“If they don’t say anything doctors and physicians aren’t going to bring it up,” said Morris. Patients have to be willing to go to bat for themselves in order to get the test.
“My father had an anuerysm at age 69,” said Morris. “That’s the other part, it was in my family history. I never told my doctor about it or my cardiologist. I didn’t let them know, so there was no way to set me up for the EKG that I needed.”
After Morris’ episode, everyone in his family got tested. His sister also had the exact same condition as Morris, and she had the same surgery that her brother had.
“They did her surgery in February,” said Morris. “She’s doing great now.”
One year later
Almost one year to the day after Morris’ surgery, he put out a video that was posted on the Carmel boys’ basketball Twitter account. The video lasts 1 minute and 23 seconds, but it makes its point very concisely.
Morris talked to Osborn, who said that if he could “put a good quality, short video together, we’ll put it on our Twitter.”
“It was Ryan’s idea to do that,” said Morris.
“I think as teachers and coaches, we talk about the negative impacts of social media, and it’s also proven in this scenario that it’s a positive,” said Osborn. Since it was posted on July 26, the tweet has received over 28,300 views. (You can view the video here)
“He sat on it and really felt compelled to use it as a way to make an impact, and it’s just the type of guy that Walt is, super positive and always wanting to help people,” said Osborn. “Through this, he’s been able to accomplish that.”
Now ready to go for another season of Carmel boys basketball, Morris is happy to be back to his regular routine.
“I’m walking four and a half miles a day now, doing all of my normal part-time jobs, feeling better than I ever felt in a long time,” he said.
And with this new lease on life, Morris also wants other people to be aware of the symptoms and to make sure they are ready to take action to save their own lives.
“I’m never going to know if this helps anybody,” said Morris. “My job’s to get it out.”
“I just want to get this message out, hopefully save some people,” he said.