As he stopped by the county clerk’s office to pick up nominating petitions, Ken Ramsey was thinking of more than just running for a second term as Kane County Sheriff.
He was considering his second chance in life.
Ramsey, 49, is almost fully recovered from a heart attack that nearly killed him last month. Although the Army veteran intends to seek re-election, Ramsey said he will do so with a new perspective.
“I always thought you go around once in life, I didn’t realize you can get a second chance,” Ramsey said this week. “I’m definitely living life smarter and slower, I’ve got a new granddaughter I want to see grow up.”
Ramsey was en route to his Batavia home from work on Aug. 13 when he began feeling as though “an elephant were sitting on my chest.” He stopped at the Batavia fire station to get immediate help.
That move might have saved his life.
Ramsey’s heart stopped while he was being treated at Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva.
“I didn’t know I’d flat-lined. All of a sudden I felt very peaceful, but tired,” he said. “In my mind, I just closed my eyes and opened them again right away, but in reality I was out for about a half-hour and the doctors had been jumping up and down on my chest.”
Ramsey said his experience makes him think of a friend who suffered a similar attack a few years ago with tragic results. Why he survived is beyond his comprehension, he said.
Ramsey is spending a few hours in his office this week and hopes to return full time by the end of September.
“I’m very grateful to be able to serve as sheriff, but I’m more grateful just to be alive to go for a second term.”
