Even after 46 years on the force, former White Plains Deputy Police and Fire Commissioner James Bradley remained steadfastly committed to public service and didn’t let much slow him down.
That’s why, in July of 2019, he reported to work as usual despite experiencing severe back pain. It was only at his wife Robin’s insistence that he later drove himself to a local urgent care.
“My wife said that I don’t know that anybody could have actually saved your life, but they did.”
Doctors at a nearby hospital placed stents in James’s heart. But hours later, when he suffered a second, massive heart attack, his doctors recommended moving him to Montefiore Einstein.
At Montefiore Einstein, doctors Ulrich Jorde and Daniel Goldstein implanted a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) to assist James’s heart muscle in pumping blood throughout his body. It was a complicated procedure, made more difficult by James’s precarious physical state.
James was in a medically induced coma for over a month, but he pulled through. And over time, with significant physical and occupational therapy at Burke Rehabilitation Center, he began to heal. In fact, James’s recovery was one for the record books. One year after he first received the device, his team of doctors determined that James’s heart function was back to near normal.
James underwent a procedure at Montefiore Einstein to permanently disconnect his LVAD device – an outcome that is exceedingly rare.
After four decades of public service, Jim is happily retired. He spends his days with family, doing the things he loves and never forgetting how very lucky he is to be alive.
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