CLEVELAND — It’s National Grandparent’s Day, a day that recognizes the bond grandparents share with their grandchildren. Michael Lamm is one grandfather who is grateful to be celebrating with his family.
Lamm from Celina, Ohio started having heart palpitations. He went to his local doctor and discovered he needed heart bypass surgery. In May 2021, he traveled to the Cleveland Clinic for surgery.
As Lamm was repairing for surgery, he told Dr. Aaron Weiss that he was an avid fly fisherman and asked him if he would live to see next summer so that he could go fishing with his granddaughter again.
“One year from now I want you to send me a picture of you fly fishing, we’re going to get you there,” said Weiss.
Lamm’s dream became a reality one year later when he vacationed with his granddaughter. He wrote the doctor a letter and enclosed a photo.
“I was able to do something I wasn’t sure I could do again but I was given a second chance,” said Lamm. “There are more fish to catch, God has a different plan for me."
Lamm provided News 5 with the letter.
Considering the number of patients you see annually, I’m sure you don’t remember me, but I will never forget you. In May of 2021, you and your staff at Cleveland Clinic performed what turned out to be a rather complicated heart bypass surgery on me that I am convinced saved my life.
From what I understand, after determining I had too much plaque buildup to safely put me on the heart-lung machine, you and Dr. Faisal Bakaeen successfully completed two major bypasses on my heart WHILE IT WAS STILL BEATING! I am convinced that I am only here today because of the world-class talent of you and your team at Cleveland Clinic.
In our meeting prior to the surgery, I commented that I was an avid fly fisherman and wondered aloud if following surgery, I would still be able to continue to participate in the sport I love, or if I would only be able to watch my friends fish while I remained sedately seated on the riverbank. You responded by asking me to send you a picture of me fly fishing a year after surgery.
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