On the surface, artist Todd Ortbring sounded calm under the pressure of bright lights while talking on live television.
On Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, he spoke to Local 4 News about how the rich history of Detroit inspired his collection of what he calls “tribute pieces,” including calendars. The Local 4 segment promoted the retail residency of Neighbor x Folk at Michigan Central Station during the holiday season.
Unexpectedly, his wife, Janice Ortbring, sent a message on Jan. 15, writing, in part, “He has a fairly crazy story.”
Her husband experienced a heart attack during the segment, according to doctors.
So we had to ask: What happened?
“I had some shortness of breath,” Todd Ortbring said. “But I didn’t have some of the other symptoms -- the pain and the arms and legs. I still had a little pain in my jaw, but I had some shortness of breath.”
The shortness of breath came and went, said the father of two.
He said what he experienced started the Thursday before the interview.
He needed to drop off his “Back in the D” calendars at the train station.
“I bent down to pick up two boxes and felt a big pain in my chest,” he said. “So I thought, ‘This isn’t normal. I pulled something.‘ So I carried one box at a time to my car and sat there for about 10 minutes.”
Once more, the pain went away.
However, he discovered a misprint on his calendars.
So, while hauling the correct version of the calendar on Friday, he experienced shortness of breath again.
By the time Saturday came, he woke up for the 6 a.m. interview. On Dec. 23, he finally sought medical treatment.
Tests confirmed he had had a heart attack.
The doctor said if he had another one, it could’ve ended his life.
“A lot of the time, what we see is something called unstable angina, meaning people are having an unstable situation where they’re having differing levels of good blood flow to their heart,” Dr. Frank McGeorge said. “It’s a point, it’s dropping, and that stuttering situation is what can lead to heart damage and what we generally refer to as a heart attack.”
The doctor said heart disease comes across the spectrum.
“You can have minor symptoms with very little heart damage,” McGeorge said. “If we pick up on that early, we can oftentimes prevent the big one, if you will.”
Todd Ortbring learned he had 99% blockage in one of his arteries.
What are non-traditional signs of heart problems?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, direct signs of heart problems include jaw and neck pain, nausea and bloating, and overall fatigue.
Less direct signs include sleep apnea; achieving or maintaining an erection; and cramping, aching, or numbness in the calves while walking.
In Todd Ortbring’s case, doctors said if he had picked up anything more strenuous than those misprinted calendars, it would’ve been too much for his heart.
During his recovery, he asked, “What should I do with the botched copies?” Maybe it could benefit a fundraiser, he thought.
Patty Scott started Eleven Eleven Foundation for Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy D1.
“It’s an ultra-rare hereditary -- it is a dominantly hereditary neuromuscular disease, and it affects one in a million people,” Scott said. “We have seven known members of our family.”
Her husband is one of the members.
The genetic disease is known to cause progressive muscle weakness in the shoulders, upper arms, hips, and thighs, Scott said.
The onset develops between 30 and 40 years of age.
Eventually, patients lose their motor skills and have to rely on the use of a wheelchair.
Scott’s foundation benefits researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. The team is working to develop a treatment.
Todd Ortbring thought that if his friend Scott could sell his calendars, it could raise money to help with research while creating awareness of the rare disease.
The idea instantly became a hit, as the foundation raised more than $3,000.
While her friend got a new outlook on life, her family’s hope had also been renewed.
“When we saw people buying a $10 calendar for $50, he wanted to buy thank you cards for every donor,” Scott said. “It took this -- it took Todd having a heart attack to get into me, to get into this, to renew our hope.”
It seems the messed-up calendars not only saved Todd Ortbring’s life, but it could help others by advancing the research, with the hope of one day launching human clinical trials.
“I try to take things a little slower, not take things for granted,” he said. “Not get as worked up, although that’s hard to do. Kind of work at a little different pace, see things a little clearer.”
Click here to support the Eleven Eleven Foundation for LGMDD1.
