In a quiet room, you might hear a clock-like sound coming from Miami Herbert Business School staff member, Joaquin Ramos. Tick, tick, tick. Steady and faint, the sound is a titanium valve that replaced one of Joaquin’s heart valves in a life-saving surgery in 2020.
6 feet and 5 inches tall, Joaquin Ramos, assistant director and career coach for Miami Herbert’s Joseph and Carmen Unanue Graduate Career Advancement Center, grew up using his size and talent to his advantage in basketball and baseball.
He ran, jumped, lifted weights, and proudly led an active lifestyle. Sports were his sanctuary. On the surface, Ramos was in optimal health.
Fast-forward to adulthood, on July 31, 2020, while at home and watching sports, Ramos’ arm went numb.
Out of precaution, he made his way to the emergency room. After an electrocardiogram, bloodwork and CT scan, Ramos waited to be discharged expecting the night to be inconsequential.
Alone in the waiting room and at 38 years old, Ramos received the news. He had to be taken into emergency heart surgery and possibly only had a few hours left to live. He had suffered an aortic dissection, a serious condition in which a tear occurs in the body’s main artery, the aorta.
In an instant, Ramos was being transported to the surgery room and meeting the cardiac team.
“I felt time slow down as I realized how close to death I was,” said Ramos when recalling the moment the surgeon explained the severity of the situation to his then-wife. “I called my sister, my mom, and my best friend. I wanted to live, but I knew it wasn’t up to me, and all that mattered in that moment, were the people I loved.”
That night, Ramos underwent a 12-hour surgery, specifically known as a Type A aortic dissection.
He lost 12 liters of blood and was in an induced coma for five days after his surgery.
For a month, he recovered at Memorial Regional Hospital alone due to COVID-19 restrictions. He couldn’t walk and didn’t speak for 40 days because his vocal cords became paralyzed when he was intubated for surgery.
Once he left the hospital to continue his recovery at home, Ramos visited a geneticist and discovered he had been living with undiagnosed Marfan Syndrome his entire life, which is what ultimately led to his aorta rupturing.
Marfan Syndrome is a genetic condition that affects the body’s connective tissue, and impacts 1 in 5,000 people. Most people inherit the genetic mutation from a parent, but in cases like Joaquin’s, some people are the first in their families to be diagnosed because of a spontaneous mutation.
Within six months, Ramos had undergone heart surgery, learned about his diagnoses, and finalized his divorce.
Surviving with Community
He faced many twists and turns on his path to full recovery but had a supportive community to lean on.
At the time, Ramos was an advisor for the Jaffee Center for Undergraduate Business team at Miami Herbert.
“Jeanne Batridge was an exceptional leader and mentor during my time at the Jaffee Center,” Joaquin said about his former supervisor. “Her dedication and compassion went beyond the call of duty, truly reflecting the strong sense of community we share at the university. I feel blessed to be working at my dream school, and to have had the support of my team in the face of my diagnosis.”
Today, Joaquin has re-married and is part of the Board of Directors of The Marfan Foundation.
Through The Marfan Foundation, he works to raise awareness of connective tissue disorders, and connect with others who’ve had similar experiences.
On a family trip to Marco Island, Ramos visited a restaurant and jokingly asked, “If this were my last meal, what should I order?”
That day, his food blog ‘If This Was My Last Meal,’ was born.
With more than 12,000 followers, Ramos visits restaurants, asks which meal the team would recommend if it were to be his last, and then gives an honest review. His blog has opened doors for fun date nights with his wife and local and national adventures to visit culinary hot spots.
Through therapy, Ramos has learned about the power of sharing one’s story for awareness and cathartic release. The 8-inch scar stretched down his chest, is a reminder to him and to those around him, of all that he’s overcome and the gift of second chances.
