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Ocean Medical Center
from Two Conditions on Veterans Day
MeridianHealth.com • 1-800-DOCTORS
10
Veterans Day 2011 was one to remember for
Korean War vet Jerry Avergun, who lives in Toms
River. After being rushed to Ocean Medical
Center with a heart attack, tests revealed
that he had a dangerous ballooning of an
artery in his abdomen, which could be fatal. A
team of specialists who are part of Meridian
CardioVascular Network were able to perform
lifesaving procedures right at Jerry’s local
hospital, and within a few days, he was home
again. “This is truly an amazing case,” says
Rayson Yang, M.D.
As a Korean War veteran, Toms River resident Jerry Avergun has long
marked Veterans Day as a reminder of the time he served overseas.
But on Veterans Day last year, the holiday took on a new meaning.
Not only would it represent how the 83-year-old had fought for his country,
but also how he had fought for his life.
Jerry began November 11, 2011, by participating in a Veterans Day parade in his
community of Greenbriar Woodlands, a tradition for the past 18 years. Unlike
most years, however, Jerry wasn’t up for continuing the celebration afterward
with friends. He didn’t feel well and chose to go home.
There, he quickly deteriorated, losing his appetite, shivering uncontrollably,
and beginning to feel pain near his groin. His wife called their doctor and was
told to get Jerry to the Emergency Department.
At Ocean Medical Center, the medical team quickly recognized that Jerry
was having a heart attack. But the physician on duty had a feeling something
else was going on, too. Additional tests revealed that Jerry also had an iliac
artery aneurysm — a ballooning of an artery in his abdomen. If it burst, Jerry
could die. Specialists were called, and he was rushed to surgery.