Health & Wellness

Tara’s will to survive was rooted in her four children: Cami (front right), and back row, left to right, Theo, Gabe, and Joe.

For Tara Weese of Unionville Center, life in early 2025 was full and familiar. As a mom of four, she juggled the demands of family life with her career in Production Control & Supply Chain Management at Honda of America – two roles she thoroughly enjoys being in.

Her evenings were often spent on the sidelines of soccer games, cheering at school events, or gathered closely with her family, who mean everything to her. Tara pours her heart into them – and soon, her own heart would test their strength in ways they could never have imagined.

On January 20, Tara made the unusual decision to stay home from work. For more than a week she had battled persistent pain in her arm and leg. That day, it became impossible to ignore. That day, everything changed. Tara suffered a heart attack in her home.

In the chaos that followed, her 17-year-old son, Theo, sprang into action – immediately beginning CPR while his brother, Gabe, quickly called 9-1-1. Just months earlier, Theo had completed CPR training at Tolles Technical Center, joking with his family that it was a skill he’d probably never need.

But on this day, he needed it more than ever. Like a superhero in a cape, Theo kept his mom’s heart beating until EMS crews arrived, stabilized Tara, and rushed her to Memorial Hospital.

In recognition of Theo performing life-saving CPR, Tolles Technical Center and the American Heart Association (AHA) presented Theo with the Heartsaver Hero Award this past spring.

Once Tara arrived at Memorial, our Emergency Cardiac Team moved quickly. She was rushed to the Level II Cardiac Cath Lab, where specialists performed an emergency angioplasty, placing a stent in her artery and implanting an Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP) – a heart pump designed to keep blood flowing and reduce the heart’s workload. Given the grave seriousness of her condition, Tara was stabilized and prepared for transport to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

As days progressed, she suffered a second heart attack. Now on full life support, Tara faced the fight of her life.

The days that followed brought hurdle after hurdle: kidney dialysis, dangerous blood clots in her legs, and even complications with her vocal cords. Her boyfriend, Ben Long, chronicled each day with updates for friends and family, as they all prayed for her recovery.

For Tara, much of that time is a blur. “I have waves of flashbacks of being in my hospital room or going to have a test done – but my memory is bleak,” she recalls. “It was like time stood still. All I really remember is wanting to get back to Ben, my kids, and my family.”

Then, on February 8, hope finally broke through. Tara was strong enough to go home.

By the end of the month, she returned to Memorial – this time to begin her Cardiac Rehabilitation program. “This team is amazing,” she shares. “I was very scared when I started, but they quickly put me at ease. I grew stronger and stronger with each appointment.”

As spring and summer unfolded, Tara embraced each day with determination and gratitude – celebrating every moment, growing stronger with each challenge, and cherishing the blessings around her.

• Blessings like a child who remembered every step of a life-saving procedure and acted without hesitation.
• Blessings like the skilled clinicians at Ohio State who provided critical care for days upon days.
• Blessings like the team at Memorial, who not only saved her life with an emergency cardiac catheterization, but later guided her on the journey to strengthen her heart and reclaim her life.