In April 2024, Mike Rounkles and Cassie Montgomery unexpectedly experienced lifesaving cardiac care and a hospital-bedside wedding–all in the same day–thanks to the quick action of the couple, Johnson County MED-ACT MED-ACT and the team members of AdventHealth Shawnee Mission’s Cardiac Care Unit.
“After putting our kids to bed and watching a rerun of Jimmy Fallon’s Password, we turned in for the night,” said Montgomery. “Just after midnight, I found myself calling 911 as Mike was experiencing chest pains.”
The couple was looking forward to celebrating their wedding on April 24, but, instead, that morning, Rounkles was experiencing a heart attack. He was transported by MED-ACT to AdventHealth Shawnee Mission’s emergency room and immediately treated by Emergency Medicine Physician Dustin Keffer, DO, and was admitted to the coronary care unit for cardiovascular surgery with interventional cardiologist Ammar Habib, MD.
And yet, during this medical emergency, Rounkles was still determined to marry his fiancée that day. They wed in the hospital one hour before he was scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the blockage to the anterior descending artery. Team members of the CCU, Dr. Habib and hospital administration joined the couple to witness the marriage ceremony, facilitated by chaplain Elizabeth Marin Rodriguez.
It takes a village
From the moment Montgomery called 911 to the arrival of MED-ACT to the operating room, Rounkles received the life-saving care he needed and was discharged to go home with his new wife.
In recognition of National EMS Week, on May 22, 2025, the couple reunited with the paramedics from MED-ACT who attended to Rounkles that day in a celebration recognizing the dedication of emergency medical services professionals.
“We’re proud to honor a remarkable story of love, resilience and life-saving care,” said Laurie McCormack, executive director of the AdventHealth Kansas City Foundation, who emceed the event. “We’re proud to celebrate Mike and his wife, Cassie, our extraordinary emergency and cardiac care teams and our invaluable EMS partners at Johnson County MED-ACT who dedicate themselves to protecting our community’s health and safety every single day.”
An imperfectly perfect wedding
“The staff had gone above and beyond, providing flowers, a cake and even a ‘just married’ sign for our door,” said Montgomery. “The chaplain read Corinthians 13, and we received a heartfelt marriage certificate. It was an imperfectly perfect wedding, filled with raw emotion and gratitude.”
As soon as the ceremony ended, Rounkles was wheeled off to surgery with Dr. Habib. Montogomery and their family waited anxiously with their minds racing.
“After what felt like an eternity, we learned that Mike had undergone a more complicated procedure than expected,” said Montgomery, “with four stents placed to address a 95% blockage to his heart.”
What Rounkles had suffered was known in the medical world as the widowmaker, a heart attack that occurs when the left anterior descending artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to the heart is completely blocked.
When it comes to any heart attack, quick intervention and treatment is essential. The survival rate following a widowmaker heart attack is only 12% when it occurs outside of a care facility.
Reflecting on the events, the newlyweds realized that everything had happened for a reason. Had they overlooked his symptoms and gone through with their original wedding plans, Rounkles might have suffered a widowmaker before Montgomery could even become his wife.
Instead, MED-ACT and AdventHealth’s Emergency Room and CCU care teams were able to intervene at the right moment. Because of that, the couple got to spend their wedding day together with his health on the mend and their love stronger than ever.
“On my 40th birthday, I woke up in a hospital bed next to my best friend, grateful for the fresh start and the new decade ahead,” said Montgomery. “It wasn’t the celebration we had imagined, but it was humbling and filled with hope.”
