GONZALES — A two-time Gonzales Middle School teacher of the year and coach is sharing his story about how early detection of heart issues and a small medical device helped him recover and get back to living an active life.

Reuben Ruiz, known as "Coach Boo" to his players, spent nearly 40 years coaching several sports and teaching P.E. at Gonzales Middle School. At 73 years old, he's in good shape now, but a few years ago he was 50 pounds heavier and noticed he was getting fatigued climbing stairs.

"Where I substitute at, they had this big, massive set of stairs when you walk in the door and you go up," Ruiz said. "And I was getting to where I had reached a point where I'm getting to the top of those stairs and I'm starting to breathe a little heavy... a little perspiration and stuff."

Ruiz never had a stroke or heart attack, just high blood pressure, but his family had a history of heart issues. His daughter, who works in cardiology, pushed him to establish care with a cardiologist.

"I would answer the phone and friends and family would say, boo, why you breathing heavy?" Ruiz said. "And I would make up something. Oh, well, I just came in from out of the yard working and stuff. But the signs were all there. But I was in total denial."

Dr. Niksad Abraham found heavy calcification in Ruiz's arteries. Ruiz then underwent surgery to have stents inserted, with the surgical team assisted by a device called the Impella temporary heart pump at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital St. Elizabeth in Gonzales.

Dr. Roberta Bogaev-Chapman worked as a practicing cardiologist for 20 years before joining Johnson & Johnson as the Vice President of Global Heart Failure. Johnson & Johnson is the parent company of Abiomed, which makes the Impella pump.

"The Impella device is the world's smallest heart pump," Bogaev-Chapman said. "The diameter of the device is 4.67 millimeters, which is 0.184 inches. So it's a tiny, tiny device that can be inserted in a minimally invasive fashion in a cardiac catheterization lab at the hospital, through the artery and the leg, the femoral artery."

The device goes on a catheter up the aorta and sits inside the heart muscle across the aortic valve, Bogaev-Chapman added.

"So it assists the heart by pumping, by pulling blood from the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber, out into the aorta and allows the heart to rest and recover after an insult such as a heart attack," Bogaev-Chapman said.

Abraham pointed out that Ruiz's case became particularly complex because his arteries contained a lot of calcium. Ruiz described what the doctor told him about the procedure.

"He said it was like going through concrete," Ruiz said. "So the surgery itself involved an extended amount of time. So I really needed that implant to give my heart a chance to rest and make the insertion of those stents possible."

According to Johnson & Johnson, the Impella pump has helped more than 400,000 patients worldwide.

"The Impella device is intended to support a patient's heart so that they can keep their heart and not ultimately require a heart replacement therapy, such as a permanent device that's surgically implanted or a heart transplant," Bogaev-Chapman said.

The device is being used in Baton Rouge at Our Lady of the Lake, Ochsner and Baton Rouge General hospitals as well as Lane Regional in Zachary.

After surgery, Ruiz's shortness of breath disappeared. He changed his diet, lost 50 pounds and can now walk longer distances. He's still substitute teaching and volunteer coaching, and he has advice for others.

"It's just like my daughter told me, said, 'Go now,'" Ruiz said. "If you're not seeing a cardiologist and you're getting up in age, go ahead and get established with one. And, hey, my advice would be to ask your cardiologist if he uses this Impella or not during his procedures."

Ruiz said his biggest motivation to stay healthy is his six grandchildren. He described a moment with his 9-year-old grandson that put everything in perspective.

"The thing that brought it all together for me. I have a 9-year-old grandson and he's always like, 'Popo, come out, come throw the ball with me, come play ball with me,'" Ruiz said. "His life dream is to be a quarterback. And we're throwing the ball and I remember I stopped dead in my tracks and I looked at him and I'm going through my mind. Talk about manipulation, here my 9-year-old grandson is playing quarterback, throwing me the ball. I'm 72 years old, running pass routes."