UMMC takes heart patient from lethal diagnosis back to athletic powerhouse

Published on Monday, August 5, 2024

By: Rachel Vanderford, rvanderford@umc.edu

Photos By: Joe Ellis/ UMMC Communications

Sixty-one years old this month, Montyne “Tina” King Clay is as much of an athlete as she’s ever been. When she isn’t running a marathon, playing sports, or taking classes at Orange Theory, she’s coaching women in her community.

Despite her bill of excellent health, not even Clay was immune to a serious heart condition.

While having lunch with her husband, Henry, on a Tuesday afternoon at Basil’s in the Fondren district, Clay suddenly passed out.

“When we sat down, I felt lightheaded and just passed out all of a sudden,” said Clay. “I remember Henry asking people around us to call the ambulance. A young lady walked up to me and asked what my name was. She kept talking to me while they put towels on me and tried to keep me alert.”

What Clay experienced was an aortic dissection, in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the body’s main artery, the aorta. While relatively uncommon, an aortic dissection can be fatal if not treated immediately. The condition typically occurs in men in their 60s or 70s, and symptoms may be similar to those of a heart attack.

Clay said that to her knowledge, she didn’t have any cardiac issues prior to this event.

"The weekend before, I had gone to a banquet and after I ate, I felt like something jumped on my chest,” said Clay. “But it was just there and gone. I thought, ‘Well, that feels funny.’ And then I was supposed to go to D.C. the next day, but I told Henry I didn’t think I was going to go. He asked me why, and I told him I just didn’t want to and that I would stay home and quilt all day instead.

“Normally, I’m always moving, always active. But I stayed home and quilted. Sunday morning, I got up and went to mass. I rested Monday; everything was fine. Tuesday, we went to lunch, and I passed out at the table.”

Within an hour, Clay was in the operating room with Henry and their daughter, Hope, anxiously awaiting news of her condition. Dr. Adam Protos, associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery, repaired Clay’s aortic dissection. He said Clay’s recovery is a testament to her strength and perseverance.

"Ms. Clay, with her charm, grit, and steadfast attitude in the face of something terrifying, is an inspiration to us all. Moreover, her story showcases that even with a lethal problem like an aortic dissection, wonderful outcomes are possible when you bring together a highly trained team with the resources of the state's only academic medical center to deliver the top notch care we strive for at UMMC,” he said.

After seven days in the intensive care unit, Clay spent an additional seven days in the hospital and seven more days in rehabilitation. She didn't miss a beat when getting back into action. While working with physical therapists and occupational therapists at the Medical Center, Clay worked on her backswing.

"The care I received at UMMC was exceptional," said Clay. "They never made me feel limited or discouraged. They asked me what I wanted to achieve and helped me work towards that every day."

“The doctor who performed my surgery, Dr. Protos, was actually in a class at Orange Theory with me about a month before,” Clay recalled. “He was there talking about his weight loss and that he needed to lose weight to be able to do surgery. Little did I know I was about to be his patient.”

Clay’s goal during recovery was to return to the Sanderson Farms Championship golf tournament on the PGA tour as the walking scorer for a second year in a row.

"When I was in rehab, I was thinking about all the things that I used to do and that I wanted to do,” said Clay. “One of the things that I wanted to do more than anything was to be able to come back and be a walking scorer again in the Sanderson Farms Championship as I had done the year before.”

After 21 days in recovery, Clay was able to walk out of the hospital. And seven months later, in October, she was keeping pace with professional golfers across all 18 holes of the 2023 Championship tournament.

"The treatment that I got at UMMC has totally brought back the ability for me to do everything in my recovery that I have been able to do,” said Clay. “When I was first there, I could not do anything with the right side of my body. They noticed it instantly and brought in physical [and occupational therapy]. They worked with me multiple times a day and they never made me feel bad or limited. They asked me ‘What do you want to do? What do you foresee for your future?’ There was never a negative day.”

Sacha MacGown, occupational therapist and interim director of rehabilitative services, worked with Clay during her time in the hospital. She said Clay demonstrated exceptional dedication and effort to reach her goals of returning to her career, volunteer work and sports activities.

“In occupational therapy, we concentrated on addressing the weakness in Mrs. Clay's dominant right hand. Our focus was on improving her grip strength and fine motor coordination to complete her activities of daily living. She was also taught compensatory techniques to complete tasks with her nondominant left hand. Although her overall endurance was initially quite limited, it improved progressively with each session," MacGown said.

Clay said there was never a moment in the days following her surgery that she feared she wouldn’t be able to do the things she could do before.

“When I first came back to bowling, I couldn't lift more than 10 pounds, so I had to get a new ball,” Clay said. “I use a 12-pound ball most of the time now, but the 10-pound ball taught me to appreciate life.”

Clay said that tennis was the sport that was most difficult to return to because it requires quick thinking and a lot of moving. Nevertheless, she gets together with friends for a friendly match every opportunity she gets.

“I can still run,” she said. “I plan to run New York Nov. 3, 2024.”

The New York Marathon will be the third run Clay has participated in since her surgery last February and another in the list of over 25 marathons she has completed.

She said in her career as a life insurance agent, she often sees disparities in coverage affecting her clients.

“My daughter couldn’t even buy life insurance at first because she had seizures as a child,” Clay said. “When I started working as an agent, I saw that most of the policies were rated because most of the African American men and women were overweight. They had high blood pressure, diabetes or a family history of it, so they couldn’t necessarily buy insurance. That’s why I started Healthy Active Soles—to help these ladies come down in weight and get their health together so that they could buy life insurance and be able to leave their children something.”

Clay founded a running group, Healthy Active Soles, in 2009 to promote exercise and health consciousness among African American women in the Jackson area. The group has grown to about 25 active members, ranging in age from 18 to 80. Through her efforts, Clay has not only improved her own health but has also made a significant impact on the lives of many women in her community.

Clay said that she has come to appreciate life a lot more since the event and is now making a point to meet a different person in her life for lunch each week.

“I try to see people, aside from my family, on a regular basis,” she said. “Now, every week I invite a different person to lunch—not to sell them anything, not for any reason except to be with them and appreciate our time together. I’ve done that ever since I left the hospital.

“It can happen to anybody. Nobody is exempt, and if it happens to you, have an open mind and deal with the situation. Your mindset is so important when it comes to recovering from things like this."