APOPKA, Fla. – Heart Health Awareness Month is almost at an end, but Philip “Critter” Crider feels like he’s just getting started on life. Critter’s journey began with a simple shortness of breath that led to a life-altering discovery.
“In 2015, I discovered that only 10% of my heart was working because of my initial shortness of breath and the echo that the cardiologist and his team did for me,” Critter said.
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His cardiology team then diagnosed him with congestive heart failure; a diagnosis that very little come back from.
“When I first found out, I had three seconds of panic and then snapped back and said, ‘You have to fight this,’” Critter said.
His new look on life has been unwavering ever since. Through diet, exercise, medication and quality health care, he managed to regain much of his heart’s function with about 80% by 2020.
In 2022, a COVID-19 infection severely impacted his health, reducing his heart function once again back to 10%. Despite coding, which means his heart stopped beating, twice, Critter pushed through.
This led him to receive a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a pump that supports his heart with two batteries and a controller.
When Critter started his cardiac treatment plan, he was told he would never qualify for the heart transplant list but is now among the approximately 3,000 patients nationwide placed on the list.
His story is not only a testament to his strength but also an inspiration to those around him, including his fitness trainer, Vishnoo Singh.
Singh, who has no cardiac issues himself, finds motivation in Critter’s perseverance.
“His story has inspired me,” Singh said. “There are days I don’t want to train or eat well but seeing him fight to take his life back motivates me not to give up on myself either.”
Critter hopes to inspire others through, a simple yet powerful piece of advice: “You don’t give up, you get up. To say the old cliché, it changed my life. It has.”
He is thankful for his wife for being an incredible caregiver, his cardiac team for continuing to work with him to further his quality of life and his faith.
