|
|
Article: Why black men are dying: from Luther Vandross to Ed Bradley to Gerald Levert, recent deaths have raised questions about why we die before our time.
- Article from:
- Ebony
- Article date:
- January 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
FOR more than a year, Pastor Robert Owens had pains in his chest. Ignoring the possibility that anything was seriously wrong, the 68-year-old Accokeek, Md., minister felt there was no need to see a doctor.
When the pain became unbearable, he drove himself to the hospital, and by the time he arrived at the Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center, where he was transferred from Fort Washington Hospital in Maryland, Owens' condition was so severe that he passed out in front of his son.
After doctors resuscitated Owens, they gave him some startling news--one of his arteries was 75 percent clogged, putting him at-risk for a heart attack or stroke.
Owens ...