Rikki Crider woke up on a September morning in 2019 with a painful knot in the right side of her neck, a sensation she first blamed on a bad sleep position or a strained muscle from moving potted trees at her nursery job.
Heart attack forces a last‑minute hospital trip before Marine graduation
After a brief walk with her 16‑year‑old son, Zander, the pain intensified, her breathing grew shallow and nausea set in. By evening her husband, Todd Crider, returned home to find her missing from the couch, only to discover her slumped in a neighbor’s chair, described as “ghost white.”
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Bob, the neighbor, escorted Rikki to the hospital, where doctors confirmed she was experiencing a heart attack. She was quickly taken to a cardiac catheterization lab, where physicians located a near‑total blockage in her left anterior descending artery (LAD) — the vessel that supplies most of the left side of the heart. A stent was placed, restoring blood flow, and she “immediately felt better.”
The blockage was about 99 percent, a condition that can be fatal without prompt treatment. The procedure saved her life, but the timing was precarious: her older son Daniel was scheduled to graduate from Marine Corps boot camp at Camp Pendleton the following week.
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Rikki, who had married Todd in 2017, insisted on leaving the hospital early so she could attend the ceremony. Physicians preferred to keep her for a few more days of monitoring and recommended several weeks of rest at home. A compromise was reached: she would be discharged the day before the graduation, and the family would drive the eight‑hour trip, stopping hourly for short walks to reduce the risk of blood clots.
“They were going to have to strap me down to the hospital bed,” she recalled, noting that no one was blocking the door when she left. The extended drive turned into an eleven‑hour journey, but the Criders deemed the extra time worthwhile.
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At Camp Pendleton, all wheelchair spaces for graduation attendees were already taken. With Todd’s assistance, she walked from the car to her seat, taking care with every “little twinge” she felt. When she finally sat down, she broke down in tears, overwhelmed by the moment.
She drives with caution now.
