CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute says heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women. For one young man from Champaign, his experience with heart failure changed his life.

February is National Heart Month. And Matthew Lewis, Champaign resident, is working to make people more aware of the importance of seeing a doctor regularly and taking your health more seriously.

“It’s like one of those things where your life flashes before your eyes and before anything really happens,” Lewis said. “Just because you hear it and you’re like, well, am I going to see another thanksgiving? Am I going to see another birthday?”

Around two years ago, Lewis was at his lowest. He was an active young man who started noticing an extreme change in his body. At first, he ignored the signs like getting winded quickly, sleeping more, and throwing up his food on a consistent basis.

“The very start of that year, in January, I was driving from Chicago down to Champaign and I was getting dizzy. I was getting like, I don’t know, like a feeling I’ve never had before. I was forgetting where I was even going,” Lewis said.

At the age of 26 he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, or CHF. For the next three to four months, he went through several tests like Cat Scans, MRI’s and blood work. But health professionals couldn’t figure out the problem.

“They were like, ‘Well it seems like you’re fine now, if you feel like you’re fine. And maybe, possibly like almost exactly a month later, that was the day I almost passed out,” Lewis said.

Lewis was able to find the right help after doctors said his heart rate wasn’t operating normally. It was something Lewis was shocked to hear but he was determined to get healthy.

“The symptoms like how I had it was very severe. Most like the average person’s heart operates at about a 50 to 60 to 70%, mine was at a five.”

After his surgeries in June of 2023, Lewis was discharged from the hospital on Aug. 1. He said his journey was something he would’ve never expected especially after being told he may never be able to walk again.

“I appreciate it a lot more to even be on a basketball court here and and be like, you know, I get to play this again,” Lewis said.

Lewis is now healthy again, but still goes to the hospital every three months for checkups.

He said that for anyone watching his story, pay attention to the warnings your body throws at you and also make sure you’re visiting the doctor regularly.