Thankful to be alive, thankful for UHD
Claire Olson credits local hospital for saving his life last November

Sitting in his farm office with his wife, Diane, standing by his side, Claire Olson says he cannot thank the staff enough at UHD for the life-saving measures they performed on him last November 17, when he had a heart attack. Olson is now well on the way to recovery and has been busy attending cardio-rehab sessions at UHD.
At a time when many smaller towns and communities are struggling to keep their hospitals open, Frost farmer Claire Olson is very thankful that Blue Earth has been successful in keeping UHD (United Hospital District).
“They saved my life,” the 73 year old Olson says, referring to the staff who were working at the hospital on Nov. 17 of last year.
That day in November was the day Olson suffered a heart attack.
“It is kind of ironic,” his wife Diane recalls. “Because, earlier that day, Claire had told me that he felt really good, which is not something he normally does.”
The problem began on the afternoon of the 17th while Claire was at the elevator in Rake, Iowa, to pick up some product to be applied to his fields.
“I walked outside of the office building and I had some chest pains,” Olson shares. “I stopped outside before I got into my pickup and I threw up.”
The secretary from the elevator observed Olson was not well and wanted to call for help.
“I told her I thought it was just indigestion and that I would drive home,” he comments.
Claire drove the approximate 11 miles to his farm north of Frost and met his hired man.
“He thought we should call an ambulance,” Diane says. “Claire had laid down and I took his blood pressure. I don’t remember what the bottom number was but the top number was 189.”
Diane was ready to call the ambulance but Claire told her she could drive him to the hospital.
“I put my flashers on and drove 85-90 miles per hour and just prayed that I did not hit a deer before we got to the hospital,” Diane comments. “Claire called ahead and let them know we were on our way and that he was pretty sure he was having a heart attack.”
When they pulled into the UHD parking lot, Diane dropped Claire off at the front door and went to park the car.
“By the time I found a space for the car and got inside, the hospital staff already had him laying down and hooked to machines,” Diane notes. “They wanted to do an echo-cardiogram.”
However, Claire’s legs were moving so much they were unable to perform the test.
“I was in so much pain,” Claire states. “I felt like five ball-peen hammers were pounding on my chest. I have never been in so much pain.”
Claire went into cardiopulmonary arrest, or as the slang term says, he coded.
“The staff was doing chest compressions and then they got the paddles,” Diane says. “It took three shocks to bring him back.”
Meanwhile, a helicopter was already on its way from Mankato.
“I give the UHD staff all the credit,” Claire comments. “They had already been making arrangements to get me to Mankato. They knew what they were doing. Timing was everything if I was going to survive and everybody at UHD did everything right.”
Diane called the couple’s two children, Nathan, who lives in Inver Grove Heights, and Natalie, who resides in Fairmont.
“I also called Caleb Franke, our hired man,” Diane says. “He drove me to Mankato and we met Nathan, Natalie and our granddaughter Annika there.”
The doctors in Mankato put two stints in Claire and then prepared to have him take another helicopter ride – this time to Rochester.
“The doctors told me I had the widow-maker heart attack,” Claire reveals. “I remember getting in the helicopter in Blue Earth and I remember waking up after getting the stints put in at Mankato.”
Before he left for Rochester, Diane and the rest of his family had the chance to say goodbye to him and tell him they loved him.
“I was a little concerned when they lined up to say goodbye,” Claire admits. “I didn’t know if they were saying the final goodbye.”
The doctors had some concern over possible organ damage since his heart had stopped beating for a time, but it appears any damage to the liver and kidneys was minimal, according to Claire.
“After the stints were put in, my heart was still only pumping at 25 percent capacity,” he says. “So I had to have a blood pump assist my heart for three days.”
His heart is now operating at 39 percent and the goal is to get to 50 percent,” Claire notes. “The normal number for someone my age is 60 percent.”
The doctors feel Claire should reach the 50 percent target by March.
Two weeks after being discharged, Claire was headed back to the hospital again. He was in pain and having difficulty breathing.
“Once again the staff at UHD was able to diagnose what was going on,” Claire says. “I had colitis, which is an infection of the colon. I also had blood clots in my lungs.”
So, another trip to Rochester was planned. However, this trip was made in the back of an ambulance.
“Mayo brought their ambulance to Blue Earth and loaded me up,” Claire comments. “That was a miserable trip. You feel every bump in the road when you ride in an ambulance.”
Claire’s blood pressure was low so the first thing they did in Rochester was give him fluids to help raise his blood pressure.
“As soon as it was raised I had five doctors in my room plotting a course of action,” Claire remarks. “I ended up spending four more nights in Rochester to get the clots cleared up.”
Claire has been working on his recovery by going to cardiac rehab sessions at UHD.
“I am on a special low-sodium diet, I need to drink more water and I am taking 11 pills a day,” he says. “Through everything that happened I lost 34 pounds and now the doctor told me I need to put on a little weight.”
The couple will leave for Arizona soon and the doctors have told him to stop every two hours and get out and walk a little bit.
Diane, who had hip replacement surgery earlier in 2024, was busy caring for her husband while still recovering from her surgery.
Claire plans to continue farming – with a few changes.
“I don’t think I will be shoveling corn anymore,” he says with a smile. “I may have to delegate more jobs.”
Looking back, he remains surprised at what happened to him.
“There is no history of heart problems in my family,” Claire comments. “I felt great that day. I had been a little tired but we had just finished harvest so I didn’t think anything was abnormal.”
Through his ordeal, Claire shares he has been impressed by many things.
“The surgeons, when they put my stints in, went through a vein in my wrist,” he says. “That is pretty amazing.”
And then he circles back to UHD and the people who work there.
“People, including myself, need to realize how important UHD is and how fortunate we are to have the staff we have at the hospital,” Claire states. “This all began on a Sunday night. Yet, they had staff on hand who were there to save me even though they would have probably liked to be home with their families. They sacrifice so much and they do their jobs so well.”
He stresses once again that it is because of UHD that he is still here.
“I owe them so much,” Claire concludes. “I really can’t thank them enough.”