Allen Hospital Emergency Department nurses Rachel Vaughn, Kailey Van Heiden and Ashland Taylor (left to right) joined Julie Gowans (second from left) for the 2025 Cedar Valley Heart Walk
Julie Gowans’ issues started in the afternoon as a pain in her upper back. By 10:30 p.m. that night things grew worse, and she knew something was wrong. Her husband, Doug, got her into the car and headed to the Emergency Department at Allen Hospital. They were just a few blocks away when they were forced to wait for a passing train.
That’s when Julie took a big gasp and slumped forward. Her heart had stopped.
Doug backed up and took an alternate route, racing to the Allen Hospital ER. He ran inside shouting: “My wife is having a heart attack!”
Team members carried Gowans inside and immediately started CPR.
The team continued doing CPR for 25 minutes and shocked her heart five times before they got a rhythm. "Later, when I asked the nurses how they made the decision whether to keep going or stop CPR, they said, ‘One thing about Dr. Paul McCaughey (the ER physician on duty that night), he doesn’t give up,’” Gowans said.
This moment was the first of three events during her stay at Allen Hospital where the physicians saved her life. Heavily sedated and intubated, Gowans was moved to the ICU. There, physicians ordered targeted temperature management, a procedure that involves lowering a patient's body temperature after cardiac arrest. The goal is to reduce brain damage and improve the chances of recovery.
Another scare and life-saving moment
On the fourth morning while she was in the hospital, Gowans was awake and no longer intubated, but she wasn’t out of the woods yet. UnityPoint Health – Allen Hospital Cardiovascular Center interventional cardiologist Joud Dib, M.D., inserted a stent into her left anterior descending artery (commonly called the widowmaker).
Dr. Dib explained that a 100% blockage might have been caused by platelets that stuck to a lesion in the artery. Medications kept Gowans alive until she was stable enough for the life-saving procedure.
"My cholesterol and blood pressure were in the normal range,” Gowans said. “I’m a walker. I have no family history of heart disease, and there’s no reason to think I would have had a heart attack.”
During her second week in the ICU, Gowans’ heart developed an arrythmia, which caused her to faint. Dr. Dib and Dr. Paul Okhumale implanted another life-saving device, an ICD (a combination pacemaker and defibrillator).
From there, Gowans spent a week in the in-patient rehab unit, working with physical and occupational therapists, before being discharged. Finally, she worked her way back into shape through outpatient cardiac rehab.
“I was so weak. At first, I could barely walk on the treadmill for more than a few minutes,” Gowans said. "By the end of eight weeks I was able to walk on the treadmill and ride the exercise bike for 40 minutes. The cardiac rehab nurses were so kind and encouraging.”
Gowans will always live with congestive heart failure, a condition that happens when the heart can't pump blood well enough to give the body a normal supply. Fortunately, she’s able to do nearly all the things she did before her heart attack, including walking with friends, albeit at a slightly slower pace.
A message of gratitude
Gowans counts herself as extremely fortunate and is grateful to be alive and healthy.
“It was 10:30 at night,” she recalled, “and if I would have gone to bed to wait and see how I felt in the morning, I wouldn't be here today.”
Gowans’ gratitude was evident in August 2025 when she celebrated her recovery at the Cedar Valley Heart Walk. Joining Gowans’ team were Allen Hospital ER nurses Rachel Vaughn, Kailey Van Heiden and Ashland Taylor.
“I was honored when she asked me, along with the other nurses who played an integral role in her Emergency Department care, to accompany her,” said Taylor. “We talked in further detail about her life, family and plans for the future. In the emergency department, we often don't get closure on where our patients end up, so learning that Julie is doing well and living her life to the fullest was truly a highlight of my career.”
"I have made an amazing recovery, thanks to the skills of the professionals at Allen. We are so fortunate to live in an area with one of the top cardiovascular hospitals in the country.” Gowans said. “They saved my life, and I am happy to be able to thank them publicly.”
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