North Texas sportswriter fights against heart disease

A North Texas sports writer has spent years traveling the country covering basketball teams, but a major health scare last year put him on the sidelines.

Now, he's on the mend and has built a team of his own.

48-year-old Eric Prisbell makes running on the treadmill look easy, but that hasn't always been the case.

This time last year, the sportswriter, husband and father of three could barely walk without taking a break.

Heart disease

Prisbell discovered he was suffering from coronary artery disease. His dad died from the disease at just 57 years old. Prisbell ended up undergoing double bypass surgery.

His outlook on life shifted.

Prisbell enrolled in the cardiac rehab program at Texas Health Allen.

Prisbell then spent a lot of time in this cardiac rehab clinic at Texas Health Allen. For 3 months he was here three times per week. And he formed a likely bond with two of his clinicians.

That's where he met Sierra Proctor and Jaclyn Raibick, who quite literally helped to nurse him back to health.

The trio became fast friends. They now run a 5k race once a month. In part, to Prisbell acting as an unofficial accountability coach.

By the numbers:

According to the CDC, coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease. It killed nearly 372,000 people in 2022.

And about 1 out of every 5 deaths from cardiovascular disease were among adults younger than 65.

Prisbell is determined not to become one of them.

What they're saying:

Prisbell emphasized just how bad his artery disease got before the surgery and rehab gave him a different approach to the challenge.

"Something was wrong. I could not climb to the second floor of my house without becoming out of breath," said Prisbell. "When I came out of surgery I was like, this is a new lease on life."

He also attributes his rehab to the sudden change of outlook on life.

"Cardiac rehab has been a tremendous help. It has given me the belief, it's given me the structure to really transform my life," said Prisbell.

His clinician Proctor and Raibick also see his positivity in his day to day interactions with them

"He waits at the finish line for us since he's a lot faster than us he waits for us and cheers us on so it's super cool to have that group bond together," said Proctor.

"It's definitely motivating. Sometimes I'll slack a bit and text him, and he'll say you've got this. He's coaching us now sometimes," said Raibick.

What's next:

While Eric won't be running inside the facility any longer he is still running those 5K's. He tells FOX 4 he recently came in 5th place in his age group. His goal by the end of the year is to come in first place. 

"I've come a long way but the best news for me is the best is yet to come," said Prisbell.

HealthAllen