Debra Avent has a passion for goats. So much so that after adopting two goats as pets she began breeding them and now raises 22 goats on her hillside farm in Inman. 

Enjoying the physical work of keeping her goats healthy like feeding them and providing them with fresh water, she was shocked when she could no longer walk from her home to her goat barn one day in October 2023. 

She said she could not make it up the slight hill in her yard and was forced to sit down on the grass and catch her breath after feeding the animals. 

“I went to the hospital, and it turns out they found a big blockage in my heart. The next day they stented me, so it was significant enough that they reacted that quickly,” said Avent, 66.  

Dr. Mathew Kalapurakal was Avent’s cardiologist, who had gotten her in the next day for surgery. 

“They went right in through my wrist. There were no stitches, no cuts, no nothing, it was just amazing.” 

In 2022, 702,880 people died from heart disease, meaning one in every five deaths in the U.S. were attributed to heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Spartanburg Regional’s Heart Wellness Center and cardiac rehabilitation program was the next step for Avent, who has since made a full recovery. 

“Going to the Heart Wellness Center, they put heart monitors on you and monitor your heart rate the entire time you’re working out. I was pushing as hard as I could because I knew I had to listen to their process,” Avent said. 

Avent said the skill and knowledge of the program team put her mind at ease and helped her realize she was not alone in her health journey. 

“I realized this is not me at the gym doing this for me, but it’s me here letting them do it for me,” Avent said. The staff knew the right level of hands-on care and education to build her up and encourage her rather than intimidate her. 

“You tell yourself, ‘I can’t get on a bicycle and bike for 10 minutes or get on a treadmill for 10 minutes, but you can, you absolutely can,” she said. 

Avent has made a full recovery and can once again tend to her goats. 

“I feel like I’m 22 again, and I’m actually 66,” Avent said jokingly. “I’m so thankful.”