FARMINGTON — Tom Sawyer, 68, a retired local banker and community advocate, didn’t know he was having a heart attack last summer.

After all, though heart problems run in his family, he had never had any major medical problems.

On Aug. 11, 2019, that drastically changed. Since then he has touched death twice and been revived.

Now, he has a new heart and is recovering.

“I didn’t know I had a heart attack. I had a mild pressure but it was something different,” Sawyer said.

He almost didn’t go to the hospital but changed his mind. He had a heart attack and a second one days later.

“They put in five stents but there was nothing more they could do,” Sawyer said.

He had 10% of his blood circulating through the left side of his heart and nothing on the other side, his wife, Roni Sawyer, said.

He ended up at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

At one point he had two pumps, one on each side, to circulate the blood through his body. He was on dialysis to support his kidneys because not only was his heart failing, his kidneys and liver were, too.

He was in a medically induced coma for about six weeks. Medical staff would routinely bring him out of the coma to check him.

Physical therapists worked to strengthen him.

As the days went on, his kidneys started functioning.

In mid-September, he started waking up from the coma. He couldn’t talk. The couple was using notes and reading lips to communicate, Roni Sawyer said.

He built up his strength slowly and stood for the first time on Oct. 10.

“I cry, cry and cry,” she said.

“The first time they hoisted me out of bed and put me in the chair, it was just so good to get off the bed,” her husband said.

He slowly started to walk.

Sawyer was placed on the heart transplant list about Nov. 10.

Early Nov. 16, the Sawyers were told doctors had found him a heart.

At 11 a.m. that day, he went into a nine-hour operation to get his new heart. Surgery was long, and recovery would be longer still.

Eventually he was moved to a rehabilitation facility and after being released from there the couple spent time with family in Massachusetts and then with friends in southern Maine as he continued to recover.

The Chesterville couple returned to Farmington on Jan. 10 where they will live temporarily.

“I am not superhuman,” Tom Sawyer said. “Some days were better than others. I love being back. It almost seems like a dream.”

He retired from Franklin Savings Bank in April 2019 after 42 years.

He encourages people if they feel something a little different in their chest or something they don’t normally experience, they should check with their doctor.

“Even if it is not a heart attack, a few minutes could make a difference if you survive or die,” Sawyer said. “Before I would have said, ‘ah, don’t worry about it.’ I can’t describe how I felt. It was just like indigestion or something, just a little pressure.”

He received hundreds of cards and enjoyed reading them. He also had a lot of visitors and welcomes visits but asks that they call ahead to know if he will be home. They are staying for the short-term at 129 Maple Ave., Apartment 4, in Farmington. He travels to Boston every other week to have a biopsy done on his heart, which will gradually lessen in frequency. He also has physical and occupational therapy.

“I am thankful for all the support from family and friends, and for the cards and visits,” Sawyer said. His voice is softer following the heart attacks. During his visits to Boston, they are working on his throat.

“When your heart doesn’t work, it also affects all of your body parts,” he said.

A big part of recovery is your attitude.

“Even if you don’t want to you have to force yourself to get up,” Sawyer said.

Anyone wishing to send a card or a note may mail it to: Tom Sawyer, P.O. Box 763, Farmington, ME 04938.