4 LIVING WELL Craig Gleason enjoys a refreshing hike on Oct. 3, 2024, at Riverside Park in Reno, Nevada. After recovering from a cardiac arrest, he notices the beauty of nature now more than ever. ‘I blacked out and woke up three days later’ Craig boarded a plane in Orlando for the six-hour direct flight back to Portland. It was late at night when the plane landed, and Craig quickly made his way down to baggage claim. “I grabbed my bag and called my cousin Bill for a ride,” he recalls. “We had some small talk, but after that I don’t remember a thing. I blacked out and woke up three days later.” Opening his eyes, Craig found himself in a hospital room. A nurse explained that he had survived a cardiac arrest and was recovering at Adventist Health Portland. “Go for launch,” radios NASA’s launch director, commencing the countdown for the unmanned SpaceX mission. “T-minus 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…and liftoff of Intelsat Galaxies 31 and 32. Go Falcon 9!” Cheers erupt from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as the satellite-loaded rocket blasts up and into orbit. On a deck across the river, self-described “space geek” Craig Gleason, 67, watches the fiery blastoff with friends. Little does he know, his trip home 10 days later will launch his life in a dramatic direction. to life after death
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