Coming Soon: 'Keep Calm and Cary On' Benefit for Cary Behm

Behm was 42 when he suffered a heart attack at his home. He said that he was ready for work when the heart attack occurred.

"I had a 'widowmaker,'" Behm said, "and that is when a particular artery in your heart gets stopped and occluded."

His two young children were also home at the time. The children's mother arrived, saw the children and then looked through the door of the house. She found Behm mumbling and gasping on the kitchen floor.

Behm calls what happened next a miracle. Just as she called out for help, his neighbor, Amanda Howe, arrived home. Amanda Howe, a nurse, was with her brother Tony Howe, a firefighter. The two performed CPR, and without them, Behm says that the emergency responders who later arrived would not have been able to continue the efforts to keep him alive.

"Everyone was in place," Behm said. "It's a miracle... If not for the skill of the people and the people available when they were, I would not be sitting here talking to you. I have no doubt about that."

Behm spent about three days in the hospital and afterwards completed a rehabilitation program. For a time, Behm said doing such things as making a pot of coffee or walking down the road caused him to become exhausted.

With recovery, Behm said that there is "a certain amount of getting back up and not stay down... I am one of those persons that literally goes full throttle when it requires your family, your work."

He feels indebted to Amanda and Tony Howe. "Those were the people that showed up. They saved my life," he said. 

Behm is grateful also to be alive.

The "Keep Calm and Cary On" Benefit will include a taco buffet, a silent auction and concert featuring Friends of the Big Wu and Timothy Howe.

Doors open at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24 at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Lakeville, 20800 Kenrick Avenue. Music starts at 4 p.m.

Tickets are $15 at the door. All proceeds will go to Cary Behm, his children and medical expenses.

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