Scott Vanacore, a race car driver, was reunited on March 20 with the first responders and AdventHealth Sebring team members who saved his life after he suffered a heart attack while driving at Sebring International Raceway.
The event highlighted the importance of rapid emergency response and advanced medical care in saving lives during critical incidents. Vanacore’s experience also underscored the value of technology and teamwork between emergency services and hospital staff.
Vanacore recalled that as Highlands County Fire Rescue transported him to AdventHealth Sebring, paramedics encouraged him to stay conscious. “I remember getting light-headed and I remember starting to fade away and I remember them saying ‘Scott, stay with us, stay with us’ and ‘Scott you need to fight, you need to fight for your life,” Vanacore said. “I started thinking of my family, my kids, telling myself, telling God I can’t die, I don’t want to die.”
Two months later, Vanacore stood in the winner’s circle at Sebring with his wife Tracy to thank first responders from Highlands County Fire Rescue, Sebring Fire Department, Aloha Medical Services, and AdventHealth team members. The couple participated in a hands-only CPR refresher course during a special AdventHealth event. “Without all of you, I would not have my husband,” Tracy Vanacore said. “My daughter would not have her father to walk her down the aisle.”
Vanacore described how symptoms began after testing his Porsche GT3 Cup car. He initially thought it was heat exhaustion but medics performed an EKG that revealed more serious issues. In the ambulance his heart stopped for several minutes before paramedics revived him using CPR and a defibrillator. At AdventHealth Sebring’s cardiac catheterization lab he underwent further treatment; doctors stabilized him by placing stents after his heart stopped again during the procedure.
Hospital leaders credited the LifeNet Care system for reducing treatment times by transmitting real-time patient data from EMS teams directly to hospital staff. Dr. Thomas Shimshak said: “Since we’ve introduced this new technology, we’ve seen about a 50 percent reduction in the time it takes to get the patients to the hospital and get the heart attack artery open… At our center… Now with LifeNet, it’s 28 minutes and so it illustrates how important it is, and those minutes make a huge difference.”
The Vanacores plan to attend an upcoming race at Sebring International Raceway as they embrace Scott’s recovery. He hopes one day to be cleared for racing again but remains grateful for those who helped save his life. “Thank you for saving my life and for the professional care I got,” Scott said “Apparently, I’m a miracle, but they are the reason, I’m their miracle.”
AdventHealth Orlando is located in Orlando, Florida; it was founded in 1908 and its current president is Terry Shaw. The hospital includes a pediatric ward and serves as a training facility according to AdventHealth Orlando.
