The Night His Heart Stopped and the Prayers that Brought Him Back

Laura Carlo recalls, “I asked him a question. He didn’t respond, so I looked over and I saw him slumped over on his side. His eyes were wide open, a blank stare on his face, and he wasn’t breathing.”

On the evening of April 3rd, 2025, Angelo Carlo was at home with his wife Laura enjoying the evening, when suddenly, Angelo went into full cardiac arrest.

Laura says, “I went into total panic, my adrenaline kicked in.”

Laura immediately called 911.

Laura shares, “The operator told me to perform CPR and I didn’t know how and I felt completely helpless. I was by his side screaming, ‘Jesus, Jesus, please don’t take him.’”

A neighbor heard the screams and sent her husband over. He was a firefighter, and he began performing CPR as they waited on paramedics to arrive. Laura hung up and made one more call… to their pastors for prayer.

Laura says, “During the prayer, I was feeling a little more at ease because I knew they were aware and I knew they would call everyone in the church to put him on the prayer chain.”

Paramedics rushed Angelo to a level one trauma center in Lower Westchester, New York. By now, his heart had stopped for nearly ten minutes. Doctors worked through the night to stabilize him. In the morning, Angelo was airlifted to the North Shore University Hospital.

Tests revealed his heart was growing weaker and he would need a transplant.

Laura shares, “I was terrified. My prayers were just, ‘Please Jesus, keep him alive.’”

Doctors placed Angelo on ECMO, a machine that completely took over the work of his heart and lungs. For more than a month, he remained in intensive care, waiting on a heart.

Angelo says, “When I was told that I would need a new heart, it was, quite honestly, it was a little nerve-wracking. Again, you trust in the Lord, you’re like, ‘To live is Christ, to die is gain,’ but in my heart, He knew, He knew I had a selfish motive. He knew I just wanted to see my kids and my wife.”

So Angelo read his Bible, listened to worship music and prayed seeking God’s direction. In the midst of uncertainty, He says God began revealing something to him.

Angelo shares, “He showed me an army of people praying for me. It was like you just felt love that people they have you in their heart and going to the Lord to pray for your miraculous healing. God’s people are really on their knees praying for you. It’s humbling. It’s humbling.”

Laura says, “I just let him know that everyone was praying for him. I prayed that Jesus would just give him a heart and that he would get through the surgery and be able to come home and be with his family.”

Then on May 12th, Mother’s Day, their prayers were answered.

Laura recalls, “Being told that my husband would have a new heart on Mother’s Day was the best gift I could have ever received. Because I would have my husband back and my children would have their father back.”

Angelo was in surgery for six hours. As Laura waited, she leaned on the one thing that carried her through every step of the journey….prayer.

Laura says, “I prayed that the Lord would just guide the surgeons, the anesthesiologists, and the entire OR team through this surgery.”

Angelo came through with no complications. Even his cardiologists were amazed.

Angelo shares, “I just remember waking up again, my wife is there. I knew, okay, surgery must have gone well.”

Laura says, “I felt relieved. I remember the surgeon coming to me and telling me that everything went smoothly and he asked me if I needed anything or if I had any questions and I just asked him if I could give him a hug.”

The very next day, Angelo was sitting up. Within ten weeks, he was walking on his own. After two months of therapy with no signs of rejection of his new heart, he was released from the hospital.

Laura shares, “I attributed his remarkable recovery to his, his faith in God and all of the prayers that covered him.”

Angelo says, “My prayer to the Lord was always, let me be there for my wife and my kids. God is faithful, and God answered. One life had to die in order for you to live, and that’s heavy. So, you pray for the family. It was a new lease on life.”

Today, Angelo is exercising regularly and stronger than ever. The Carlo family says it was the power of prayer that carried them through this traumatic ordeal.

Laura says, “I would say to someone who’s in need of a miracle to give it to the Lord, and don’t stop asking until God answers.”

Angelo shares, “With God, all things are possible, and the only way we have that open line of communication with our Lord and savior is through prayer.”