This is southwest Florida in focus.

Coming up.

Living life after a cardiac event.

The changes in technology and services that can help anyone who is suffering from heart disease.

We talked with a teacher who worked at the school of a man killed during a protest in Minnesota to learn how his death could influence future demonstrations.

And Cupid's Arrow finds its way to the Sunshine State.

The dating advice that will lead you to romance during the season of love.

Hello, I'm Jennifer Crawford.

Every 40s someone in the United States suffers a heart attack.

The centers for Disease Control reports heart disease is the leading cause of death in the country, and more than 600,000 people will suffer a cardiac event for the first time this year.

WGCUs Bryant Monteilh shares the story on how changes in technology and the quick actions of a bystander helped save the life of a man who suffered a heart attack.

You know, I was ready to go and, just warming up with someone before the first game.

Passing the ball in the outfield and, he had thrown one up over my right shoulder high, and I turned to jump to get it.

And, mid-air, everything just went black.

Keenan Brown was set to play in the annual Roy Hobbs World Series.

But before he could see one pitch, he went into cardiac arrest.

Luckily, Tony Nazario, the security supervisor at the Lee County Sports Complex, was standing nearby.

I saw a cluster of guys crowded around somebody.

I didn't think twice about it.

But somebody yelled for a medic.

So my first reaction was to grab the lady out of my golf cart.

Shoot over there.

Took me less than 30s to get over there.

Keenan was unconscious, laying on the ground.

A bunch of people around him.

I took the aid, and I applied that first.

The ad said, Shock recommended.

So we knew that if it's true, saying that he was pulseless.

So the ad shocked him.

Then we started CPR.

The aid Zoro talks about is the automated external defibrillator, a medical device designed to analyze the heart rhythm and deliver an electric shock to victims when the heart stops beating.

Worked on him for about a minute and a half when the machine decided it was going to test him again.

Check for a pulse.

Still no pulse.

Shocked him a second time.

By the second time we started CPR, we were continuing to work on him.

After about another minute, Keenan started to wake up and he started to say, I can't breathe.

I knew that immediately.

If he's saying he can't breathe, he's alive.

That's huge.

I mean, that's not something that happens.

While covering this story, I use the GPS on my cell phone, and it brought us here to the Lee Hill Sports Complex, and it said, turn left on miracle Parkway.

Miracle Parkway runs along the baseball field where Keenan Brown was playing that day.

And sometimes miracles come when the right people are at the right place, at the right time.

And yes, with the right equipment.

Part of me thinks it's a little bit of a wake up call.

But, you know, I felt like I was doing pretty good.

The on field incident followed previous cardiovascular episodes.

You know, I've had a heart attack.

I had quintuple bypass surgery, and, you know, I went through them with no, like, life changing moments or something that really shocked you, like, you know, hey, you need to do something.

They used on Brown that day was designed and made by a young and innovative team from Aviv.

We wanted to make the device look at, talk, feel like what you use every day of your life, instead of maybe looking and feeling like a, like an intimidating medical device.

And so reducing the barrier to acting and making the device less intimidating.

Super important to us.

Keenan not only made a full recovery.

He's back to playing baseball and spending time with his wife and kids.

Even though he may not remember all the details of what happened that day, he will always fondly remember the man who helped save his life.

The first time I met him, after I got out of the hospital, we went to the Minnesota complex and he was working there, and, we shook hands.

Then we just hugged and we stepped back from each other, you know?

I had a little, like, tear in my eye, and he had a little thing to do, and I was like, wow.

Yeah.

Two grown men looking up.

Yeah.

So it was really.

Yeah.

This is great, you know?

Yeah.

And I was like, I can't thank you enough for you know, being there and and doing what what needed to be done.

It was just amazing.

Forever grateful is an understatement.

For WGCU news, I'm Bryant Monteilh.

For more on our coverage for American Heart Month, we are joined by Marion Harris Barter, the system director for cardiac rehab at Lee health.

And Mike Braun, our managing editor at WGCU.

Thank you both for joining us.

Now, Mike, you yourself, you had a medical scare that involved your heart and you were today going to share with us what happened.

Absolutely.

Well, the end result was a triple bypass in October of 2024.

But prior to that, in the summer of 2024, I'd had some pain in my lower quadrant and I thought it was maybe a appendicitis.

So I went to Coconut Point emergency room and they check me out.

There was nothing that was a bursitis, but I did have a slight case of diverticulitis.

But during that they scan me on a CT scan and they said, you need to have this checked out in.

This turned out to be a blockage.

So the resulted in a triple bypass.

Saved your life and you didn't even have a a symptom.

I had no symptoms whatsoever.

No pain, no no weakness, no out of breath.

Going up and down steps.

I was exercising every day at that point before, and, you know, nothing to indicate I had any kind of problem at all.

And you became a patient of Lee Health's cardiac rehab program.

How did that help you?

It was great.

Program a couple times a week.

You go in, you exercise, you talk about the issues.

You talk about diet, talk about food.

You talk about all kinds of things connected to the heart and keeping yourself healthy.

And, Mary, can you give us an overview of the entire program in Southwest Florida that you run?

Certainly.

So cardiac rehab is a comprehensive program.

Like Mike said, a lot of times people think it's just for exercising.

So after the event, they're sometimes say, well, I don't need to go because I already do exercise regularly.

But as Mike said, it's so much more than just the exercise.

It's the, education on diet, on stress management, on risk factor reduction, and then also the camaraderie between patients and the support the staff and the patients give to one another.

And it's a lifestyle.

It's changing your lifestyle.

It is it is changing your lifestyle.

It's helping you adapt behaviors that are going to go forward from the event on to keep your heart healthy.

What are some signs that people should look for if they have some concerns that they might be having a cardiac issue?

Certainly.

So as Mike said, sometimes there are no signs and symptoms for heart disease.

But certainly knowing your numbers, knowing your blood pressure, knowing your cholesterol levels, making sure you're having regular checkups so you have a baseline EKG to go by, maybe a stress test.

So just following up with your, appointments and getting regular checkups.

And what advice do you have for people who are concerned overall with their their health care?

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in America, which is surprising to me still because we know we know how to prevent it.

Right?

But like Mike said, and you know, Mike is a perfect, perfect example of somebody that has really taken those risk factors to heart and, is, you know, doing all the right things.

Diet is very important, but so is exercise.

So is stress management.

So is your blood pressure.

So all those things need to be in sync to make sure that your heart is healthy.

All right.

Well, thank you so much for joining us, Marion and Mike.

And I'm so glad that, obviously this was discovered.

And I'm sure there are many stories like that in Southwest Florida.

So thank you for all of your help and sharing your information today.

Thank you.

Thank you for joining us.

Thank you.

Coming up, the debate over college campus security.

Students voiced their concerns over their campus polices cooperation with the federal government.

Last year, Governor Ron DeSantis ordered all law enforcement agencies to sign agreements to comply with federal agencies efforts to combat illegal immigration.

That includes police officers at Florida Gulf Coast University.

This allows campus police to detain people suspected of immigration violations.

WGCUs Kate Cronin recently attended a campus protest where students questioned the partnership between Fgcu and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The yeah.

Fgcu students took a break from classes to voice their concerns against the university's cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The protest was organized by Borders Two Bridges, a student led organization that is raising awareness for migrant struggles.

Freshman Sol Reyez is against the university's partnership with the federal agency.

We as students feel uncomfortable, with that Ice agreement because we're here to study.

We're here to, you know, all of us have equal access to education.

And we shouldn't be threatened or feel like we shouldn't have that access anymore.

Students shared worries for their family, their friends and their neighbors.

Under the 287 agreement, campus police can detain and assist with the deportation of their own students.

For some, like freshman Dasani Acevedo, it was their first time protesting, but not the last.

My only issue is transportation, but I'm so grateful that they have anyone here and close by and I'm on campus to be able to attend to him.

The protest brought out mixed emotions from attendees.

Some students agreed with the university's policy and support Ice activity in the community, while others raised concerns about being able to trust police and feel safe on Fgcu campus.

For WGCU news, I'm Kate Cronin.

The protests at Fgcu follows similar gatherings following the death of Alex Preti.

He was shot and killed by US Customs and Border Protection agents while protesting in Minnesota.

A vigil was held in Naples to commemorate his passing.

Among those in attendance was a teacher who worked at a school while she was a student.

We spoke with her to learn what she believes his death will mean for future protests.

Some of the teachers actually approached the school board and went to the school board meeting, and, gave their testimony and gave their memories and their praise for Alex.

He was such an accomplished student, honor student, very involved and Dushane taught for more than two decades in the same district where Alex Prunty went to school and graduated.

And while his name is now synonymous with the ice crackdown in Minneapolis, Dushane, who retired to Fort Myers, recalls what teachers had to say about Alex proudly in his hometown of green Bay.

Their memories of Alex and how what a loving, kind, caring person he was.

He was a role model.

He was, involved, engaged.

And, so when I saw that that grief and that outpour of love for him after his death, a vigil drew Dushane to Naples, where those in attendance talked about the importance of remembering the two people who were shot and killed by Ice agents both in Minneapolis and just 17 days apart.

I wanted to go to his visual.

I wanted to pay respect to him.

I wanted to, honor him, and I wanted to let his family know or so they could see that people around our country are, are admiring him.

And, I feel terrible with what happened.

And when we're grieving, we're grieving with the family.

So it matters to everyone.

We're one human family.

Whether it's Minnesota, Florida, another country.

We're one human family.

I do have hope because I think people from all across the country have to band together, whether we're in red states or blue states, and speak up and have the courage to speak with our neighbors who we know have a very different point of view, and ask them why they do.

Ask them where they get their information and make sure they fact check their information.

Developing.

Just this week, the head of Ice, Tom Homan, announced the crackdown in Minnesota has coming to an end.

I have proposed.

And President Trump has concurred that this surge operation conclude But the Minnesota attorney general says the damage has already been done and it comes at a great cost.

Senators.

It comes at a cost of the lives of two U.S.

citizens, Rene Goode and Alex Preti.

It comes at the cost of shuttered businesses.

Mister chairman, disruptions and education for tens of thousands of children.

Lasting harm to Minnesota's economic prosperity and social cohesion.

And it comes at a cost, Mister Chairman, to our Constitution for and dushane, she says going forward, it's about reminding people of the importance of those whose lives were lost during the federal operation.

I think the more, the more we bring light to Alex's story, Rene story, the more people hopefully will get it.

Hopefully we'll see.

Hopefully we'll reflect and do some soul searching and that they're just, you know, they're not going to die in vain, that, they are international, they've been internationally recognized and they will continue to be internationally recognized.

For more than 100 years, the story of the Titanic continues to fascinate the public, historians and romantics.

A new exhibit in Tampa.

Titanic An immersive Voyage through the eyes of the passengers, offers you a chance to experience the Titanic like never before.

It features more than 300 artifacts, cutting edge technology, and also takes you 2.5 miles below sea level.

Joining us now is John Zarrella.

He is the executive producer of the interactive exhibit, and he is joining us now from Dublin, Ireland, where you are working on another exhibit.

Thank you so much for joining us, Nick.

It's a pleasure to be talking about Titanic An Immersive Voyage, one of my favorite exhibits I've ever made.

Well, the story of the Titanic is a mainstay of pop culture.

It has been remembered and romanticized for a century.

Why are we so enamored with the story of the Titanic?

The Titanic story is a is an evergreen story that relates to all of us, no matter where we are in our lives.

So from an early age to the end of our lives, there's some part of the Titanic story that we connect to.

And it also has to do with those passengers that you mentioned in the intro.

Somehow all of us are connected to those passengers at some point in our lives were all reflected in the Titanic story, and I think that's why it resonates so strongly as any of us could have been onboard that ship and experienced those harrowing circumstances.

And the exhibit shares some of these human stories, the human stories of the passengers.

What are some of the stories visitors will learn about as they enjoy this experience?

Each visitor, as they come into the exhibit becomes a passenger.

Really?

We give everybody a boarding pass.

The boarding passes are created using biographical information from those who were actually onboard the ship.

And so you become a passenger.

You become a first class.

Second class or third class passenger or member of the crew.

We have hundreds of the part of those passengers detail in these boarding passes.

And as you go through the exhibit, you start to feel connected to that passenger, to where they were on board the ship.

You start to wonder, what was it like in first class or second class or third class or in the crew quarters?

And at the end of the experience, there's a memorial wall where you can see whether your passenger lived or died.

And it's a very powerful moment.

It also captures love stories from honeymooners and couples reuniting.

How does the exhibit bring the romantic element to life?

So as you go through the experience with that boarding pass, you can visit our interactive kiosks and learn more about your passengers.

So for example, Victor and Maria Penasco, who were newlyweds traveling from Spain, were on board the ship and hadn't had an experience where Victor was lost and Maria survived, and you could hear her wailing through the night across the open waters.

There's so many stories like that, like Isidore or Isidore Strauss and his wife, the founder of Macy's, who decided that they would stay together instead of putting her in a lifeboat.

And they both perished.

So throughout the experience, you're you're meeting these passengers where they are on board the ship.

You're experiencing the life on board the ship.

But then when you get to the reality of that tragic night use, you see how couples made those split second decisions to save for a husband to save his wife, or for a wife to say, I'm going to stay with.

With you.

It's very emotional.

Can you tell me more about the elaborate sets and the technologies that help enhance this experience?

Absolutely.

So as you go through the experience, we've recreated several scenes from the Titanic, from the grand staircase to the board to the boarding, the side of the through the side of the ship, to the deck door, through the first class restaurant.

And we've created all these in a way where they're built at 1 to 1 scale.

So while we couldn't necessarily build the entire restaurant, we built the full width of the restaurant so you could experience what it was like to be on board, on board the ship in these incredible spaces and feel some of that grandeur and luxury you, after having experienced the ship sinking.

You then get the chance to dive to the Titanic wreck site through the magic of virtual reality.

So it's a very special technique using free room VR where you you actually walk through, you walk through predefined boundaries inside of a room and you dive to the wreck of the Titanic.

It's incredibly powerful to see that wreck sitting there two and a half miles beneath the surface of the ocean, more than 110 years after it sank.

In all.

In all of its remaining glory.

And for that, all of those, all that history to come back to you in a really powerful way.

It's fascinating.

Thank you so much again for sharing all this information and for joining us from Dublin, Ireland.

Thank you.

Thank you.

My pleasure.

For more information regarding Titanic, an immersive experience including how you can purchase tickets, you can head to Expo Dash, Titanic, Dot com.

After the break, the tunnel of love makes its way to Southwest Florida.

The tips you need to follow in order to find true love this Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day, a time to celebrate love for friends, family and your significant other.

But for many people, it's tough to find that special person, despite plenty of singles in Southwest Florida.

For more on the dating scene in our area, I am joined by a very special guest, Mrs.

April Davis, matchmaker and founder of Luma Luxury Matchmaking.

April, thank you for joining us.

Well, thank you for having me today.

Tell me, what do you do?

What is your company about?

So Luma is a luxury matchmaking firm, and that means that we help people to find their person that they can spend the rest of their lives with.

So our clients are typically busy professionals and executives that don't have time and don't want to deal with the apps, and they're looking for someone specific.

So they use our sort of services in order to find that person, and we introduce them.

We set up the date and then get feedback afterwards.

We make do coaching when we need to and give feedback to the clients and help them find their person.

And I saw that you have a pretty high success rate.

Yeah.

89% success rate.

And that's yeah, it's for people that actually want a relationship.

They're not just looking to get dates.

You know, they're looking for someone specific.

Now data shows that 42% of people are single in our country.

Many people are looking for a compatible partner.

Can you just give some major tips?

Well, tips in general.

I try to tell people, you know, get off the apps.

The apps have really skewed people's perceptions of dating and relationships.

And I think it's really changed us into this immediate kind of gratification type mindset.

Or we think we want this, this and this, and it's like we're ordering a car.

And because we have this plethora of options, when we go on an app, it people feel like, well, they can, you know, they can find anyone and exactly what they want.

So they become overly picky and they end up just dating for dismissal is what I call it.

So they're like, no, no, no, no, no.

And so, you know, get off the apps, go and just meet people organically.

If you are into whatever hobby, whether it's the gym or maybe it's actually some kind of outdoor activity.

Do those things.

And when you're there, you know, make eye contact and say hello and just be an open person and helpful.

And just when you have that kind of energy, people will feel it and they'll be more open to speaking with you and you'll be able to meet someone organically.

And in our area, we have many, individuals over the age of 60 and 65 that are looking for a partner, a significant other.

Right.

What is your what's your advice for that?

How is their culture different than maybe even, you know, younger singles?

Well, people can be so different at that age.

And it's interesting to even at like 40, you have people that are having kids for the first time, and then you have people that are grandparents.

And so I've seen that people in their 60s, some of them are super active and some of them are more sedentary.

So if you are one of those active people and you want to find somebody like yourself again, get it out and do those kind of events or or join organizations that will put you around other like minded people, and then you'll naturally be able to meet people.

And I think it's the key is just being open and starting those conversations, you know, smiling you won't get you a long way is, you know, making eye contact.

I think so many of us are just constantly like this.

And when we're walking around and we're not even acknowledging somebody that passes by you, you know, it's just saying good morning or hello.

When you're walking down the street, you can meet people everywhere and people want to connect with their.

We're in this isolated society right now and we have a loneliness epidemic.

People are more lonely now than ever before, even like even during Covid, because I think it's just people.

We become so individual.

Everything is for the individual.

And so that isolates people.

And it's people need to get out of that mindset and get them and selves around others.

But it takes effort and they have to put themselves out there, be open and vulnerable and transparent.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Well.

And you yourself, you're successfully married 15 years.

You have a beautiful three year old.

So I think your intuition and advice, certainly seems very appropriate.

Thank you so much for joining us.

You are delightful.

And, just great information and you have a happy hearts weekend.

Yeah, well.

Thank you.

You too.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for joining us, Miss April Davis.

Thank you.

Coming up next week debunking the myths of hormone therapy, the change in guidelines that provides a new, health conscious way forward for women entering menopause.

Thanks for joining us, and make sure you head to WGCU.org where you will find all of our stories, plus the extended interviews.

Have a great weekend!

We look forward to seeing you again right here next week on Southwest Florida.

InFocus.