Irvine couple’s holiday miracle after life-saving care at Baptist Health

LEXINGTON, KY (Dec. 19, 2025) — The holiday season is often filled with stories of miracles and gratitude. For Darrell and Janet Stevens of Estill County, this year’s miracle is deeply personal, made possible by the physicians and staff at Baptist Health.

Just weeks before Thanksgiving, the couple’s life changed in an instant.

On Oct. 13, Darrell and Janet were visiting Costco near Polo Club Boulevard in Lexington’s Hamburg area. After Janet finished pumping gas and returned to the car, she found her husband unresponsive. She called 911 and within mere moments was at Baptist Health Hamburg, just down the road.

Darrell had suffered a full cardiac arrest.

At Baptist Health Hamburg, emergency teams sprang into action. Darrell coded in the emergency department, where Jeremiah Phelps, MD, led the team that worked tirelessly to revive him.

“They worked diligently to save him,” Janet said. “Things would have been different if they had given up. But they didn’t. They kept working on him and working on him. Each team member had a job, and they completed it beautifully.”

After being intubated and stabilized, Darrell was transported by ambulance to Baptist Health Lexington, where physicians identified a severe blockage. Danielle Bayer, MD, administered clot-busting medication and placed an Impella heart pump. Darrell was then transferred to the intensive care unit.

On Oct. 17, cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Jonathan Cash, performed a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery to reroute blood around Darrell’s blocked coronary arteries. After a week on a ventilator, Darrell was discharged to Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital on Oct. 31.

Throughout the ordeal, she recalls the compassion shown by physicians and staff at Baptist Health, not only to Darrell, but to her as well.

“They didn’t hesitate to ask, ‘Do you need something? Are you okay?’” she said. “I appreciated that, because I was a mess.”

For Darrell, the experience was nothing short of miraculous.

“It was divine intervention, all the way around,” he said.

Darrell, who is back on his feet and returning to everyday activities like mowing up the leaves in his yard, is quick to give credit where it is due.

“I’d just like to thank everybody who had anything to do with my survival,” he said. “Period. From my heart.”

As Christmas approaches, the Stevenses say gratitude fills their home more than ever.

“This Thanksgiving and Christmas, and really for the rest of our lives, we have so much to be thankful for,” Janet said.