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© 2026 The Heart Attack Thriver Podcast
Description
The sharing of stories is often underrated in the healing journey after a heart attack—or any near-death experience.
This platform exists to create a safe, supportive space for those who have experienced an “Event of the Heart” to share their stories, be seen, and continue healing.
I believe we all carry medicine within our hearts, and that our stories are often the medicine someone else needs to receive.
Through conversations with survivors, medical experts, healthcare providers, dietitians, and holistic practitioners, we explore how storytelling, yoga, meditation, breath-work, and mind-body practices can help reduce stress and anxiety—and ultimately support the prevention of cardiovascular dis-ease.
You are not alone. Your story matters.
Brian
103 Episodes
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Send us Fan Mail In this Episode / Public Service Announcement I share the sad news that Leigh Pechillo passed away April 2, 2026 Leigh was a Heart Warrior, she had the brightest smile and the greatest laugh and always seemed to find the bright side of things which is something I really admired in her. Leigh was one of my early guests and here Podcast recording happened back in 2022 in the midst of Covid-19 Leigh was a passionate volunteer for the American Heart Association, The Were Re...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I sit down with Toronto-based divorce lawyer Darren Gringras, whose recent Instagram post on “Kindness” quickly went viral. I came across Darren’s post and was immediately struck—not just by what he said, but by how deeply it resonated with me. It felt especially meaningful given my own journey. After my heart attack, I created a second Instagram account called The Kindfulness Coach, inspired by a Buddhist monk I met at a meditation and mindfulness conference...
Send us Fan Mail Lately I’ve been reflecting on something I didn’t expect to stay with me this long. After a conversation with a coaching client who’s living in constant fear that their heart attack might happen again, I found myself asking… Why didn’t I feel that? And the truth is—it’s not that I felt nothing. I just felt something different. I didn’t see my heart attack as the end… I saw it as a turning point. I didn’t see my body as broken… I saw it as communicating. And that ...
Send us Fan Mail In this Episode I am in conversation with SCAD Thriver Annie Kalter who shares her powerful story of not only surviving a heart attack, but how she survived getting hit by a truck in the early morning hours while out walking her dog! Annie is the epitome of a what I call a TRUE THRIVER! Her story is one that needs to be shared and heard by the masses and is a powerful wake up call to how we are still not doing enough to give women the same level of care men are ...
Send us Fan Mail Dr. Steinbaum is a preventative Cardiologist who is the CEO and Founder of Heart-Tech Health and Adesso and her focus is empowering women to live healthy vital lives through comprehensive heart-centered prevention and wellness. You can learn more about Dr. Steinbaum and her work at: https://www.drsuzannesteinbaum.com/ Get a copy of her book here: https://www.amazon.com/Suzanne-Steinbaums-Heart-Book-Heart-Healthy/dp/1583335420/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=suzanne%20steinba...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode I finally reconnect with Dr. Paul Oh who works at Toronto Sunnybrook Hospital as the lead Cardiologist of their world class Cardiac Rehab Clinic. I was referred to Dr. Oh by Dr. Katy Shufelt who is the doctor that saved my life 10 years ago! I will always be grateful that Katy was on call that day as she was a very big part why I refer to myself as "THE HEART ATTACK THRIVER!" Thank you for listening and please be sure to hit “SUBSCRIBE...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode I’m sharing my thoughts and reflections on the 10-year anniversary of my “Event of the Heart.” Which was on January 17th, 2016 What I’ve come to realize is that I’m not just a Heart Attack Survivor—I’m a HEART ATTACK THRIVER. I can laugh about it now, but I also know that life is always testing us, always challenging us to see how badly we really want what we think we want. I wouldn’t change a thing. I truly believe this happened for my higher good, and I know...
Send us Fan Mail On November 25, 2025 Mark was in the Gym doing a routine work out when suddenly he started to feel unwell! He stopped exercising and sat down in the Spin Cycle room and things went away, and he was able to finish his workout. When he went to go home when he started to feel tightness in his chest at once at home things progressed rapidly for Mark so much so that his father called 911! Thank you for listening and please be sure to hit “SUBSCRIBE”, and “SHARE” ...
Send us Fan Mail In April of 2024, Robert who was an avid runner and cyclist started to experience significant text book heart attack symptoms. He was 56 at the time! Robert's father had a heart attack at the young age of 44 and all the men on his dad's side had Heart Issues, many had bypass surgeries. At 51 he noticed his run pace had been dropping despite all the training he did and he wonders if that was the start of his cardiac journey? Its an important conversation and a rem...
Send us Fan Mail Tara Benoit, Author of “Torn Heart: A Journey Through Trauma, Truth and Transformation! ” shares her SCAD (Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection story! Contact Tara: Tarabenoit.com IG: @tarabenoitofficial Thank you for listening and please be sure to hit “SUBSCRIBE”, and “SHARE” this podcast with anyone that you feel could benefit from it. If you’d like to reach me for support or to leave a comment or feedback, please send an email to: heartattackthriver@icloud....
Send us Fan Mail In this episode I’m in conversation with 6 time Heart Attack Thriver Sean Nolan Sean is formerly from South London and now calls Brazil home, living there with his wife and 3 daughters. My conversation with Sean left me in complete and udder awe on top of pulling on my heart strings!!! It’s a story that will go down in the books as one of the most incredible interviews I’ve done to date!! I don’t want to give to much away so sit down and take a listen to Sean’s incredi...
Send us Fan Mail In this Episode I am in conversation with John “Kipper” McQuade from Ireland, John and I share several crazy similarities with our Heart Attack stories with the main one being we are both avid lifetime cyclists. John was 65 when on September 9th of 2025, while at a cycling charity event he began to realize that something just wasn’t right with the way he was feeling and made a very wise decision to hop into the ambulance that was taking a cyclist who had crashed to the ...
Send us Fan Mail January 1st, 2026 is upon us and in this Episode I give my thoughts on the year that was, what worked, what didn’t what I learned about myself and what I’ve learned since this time last year. I have so much gratitude in my heart as I see my podcast slowly crawling up the podcast rankings and I am more committed to ever to bringing on exciting new guests, who are pushing the envelope on how we view our health and well being! As a former 20 year veteran of the Pharmaceuti...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of “The Heart Attack Thriver Podcast” I’m in conversation with John Tolkamp who I met when he was the President of Cycling Canada in Toronto. John and I re-connected a few months ago when I saw a social media post where he shared that he was experiencing some heart issues. Like me, John is an avid cyclist and was good friends with Kris Yip who was the focus of my last episode when I was in conversation with Kris’s sister Kim Brochu. ...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode I am in conversation with Kim Brochu who sadly lost her younger brother Kris who was an avid cyclist and humanitarian and was someone who loved everything related to cycling and bicycles and was a bright light to everyone who knew him! Kris tragically died while doing something he loved and was found 19 hrs later still clipped in on his bike after suffering a massive cardiac event while riding alone in his basement doing a Zwift ride. ...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Coach Brian Yates from New York’s Capital District shares his heart attack journey and how it has shaped him, his career as a Coach and as a Ph.D. student who is working on his disertation research, focusing on endurance athletes who have suffered an acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) Coach Brian suffered a NSTEMI in July of 2022 just a few weeks after completing an IRONMAN 70.3 (an NSTEMI means an non-ST elevated Myocardial Infarction (heart attack). &n...
Send us Fan Mail In this long overdue episode I share where I’ve been and why I have been radio silent over the past couple of months! Much Love! The Heart Attack Thriver! Thank you for listening and please be sure to hit “SUBSCRIBE”, and “SHARE” this podcast with anyone that you feel could benefit from it. If you’d like to reach me for support or to leave a comment or feedback, please send an email to: heartattackthriver@icloud.com Podcast Disclaimer: The information and opinions ...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Heart Attack Thriver Podcast, I’m in conversation with Pete Robertson of Mansfield, England. Pete and I have been trying to tee this up for sometime and we are both excited to finally be able dive in to his heart attack journey! Pete shares the ups and downs of his heart attack journey, how he has battled with anxiety, and how he is once again found his stride after taking up cold water, ultra endurance swimming. Thank you for listening a...
Send us Fan Mail Tom Willard from Minnesota suffered his heart attack on October 16th, 2024 and as a flight attendant for a major airline realizes how fortunate he is that he wasn’t working and in the air when his heart attack symptoms suddenly appeared. Thanks to his experience working as an X-ray technician, Tom quickly recognized his symptoms and was able to not only get himself quickly to the ER, but he was able to clearly articulate what he was experiencing which quite likely saved...
Send us Fan Mail On this weeks Episode I’m honored to share the conversation I had with Dr. Akil Taher who is still a practicing physician and who in 2009 at the age of 61 discovered he had cardiovascular disease that would require cardiac bypass surgery! Incredibly only a year later he ran his first full marathon and followed it up a year later by climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro! Dr. Taher now lives a fully plant-based vegan lifestyle and has used his experience to edu...
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