No one was smiling more than bowler Jerry Simmons on Tuesday night at AMF Woodlake Lanes in Woodland Hills and it didn’t matter what score he was putting up.
Almost a month earlier, Simmons had suffered a heart attack while exercising at a health club in Valencia. But after undergoing an angioplasty in which he received a stent, he was back on the lanes bowling with his customary marksmanship.
In fact, the 66-year-old Simmons showed his resilience by bowling in his league at Simi Valley Brunswick Zone the week before.
And at Brunswick Zone, Simmons blasted a scorching 645 series – far above his 175 average. He scored a 156-203-162 at Woodlake Lanes.
Simmons, a Santa Clarita Valley resident, thought something might be wrong while he was exercising at his health club on Dec. 12. Or as Simmons puts it: “12-12-12.”
“That’s when I felt my jaw tightening and pressure in my chest. There was no pain.”
Simmons, with his girlfriend, left for Costco and he took five baby aspirin to limit the heart damage.
Then at Henry Mayo Hospital in Valencia, he was told he had a heart attack. “One of my arteries was 90% blocked,” Simmons said. “A piece of plaque may have broken off and blocked the artery.”
Coincidentally, one of Simmons’ teammates, Larry Clough, also had recently experienced a heart attack. Clough actually had two heart attacks – “the first one was in ’98,” Clough said, “and the last one was nine months ago. Thank God I got through those.”
Clough and Simmons – along with Marshall Winer and Ray Plasse – have enjoyed a strong first half of the bowling season as their Marshall Law team has been fighting for first place in the “Guys and Dolls’’ league.
Said Winer: “We’re going to be calling ourselves the ‘Cardiac Kids.’ ”
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