Taloga Man Who Nearly Died Of Heart Attack During Thunder Game Speaks Out

An Oklahoma City Thunder fan says his brush with death during game five of the NBA Finals should serve as a lesson to others.

Sixty-eight-year-old Paul Pierce, of Taloga, Oklahoma, says he can't wait for the Thunder's next basketball season to start. That's because he nearly died of a heart attack the night the Thunder's last season ended.

Pierce was at home watching the Miami Heat clinch game five of the NBA Finals when he felt sharp pain in his chest. While he initially resisted, his wife of 50 years drove him to Seiling Hospital.

Pierce caught a break that night because his family doctor John Hester was working. Hester stabilized Pierce.

Four days later, a surgeon at St. Anthony's in Oklahoma City performed a quadruple bypass.

"It sure is cheaper and easier and less painful if you go when the pain starts," Pierce said.

Dr. Hester says if Pierce didn't come to the hospital that night, he surely would have died.