Cardiovascular
02.02.2026
Rick Braga’s high cholesterol, his wakeup call, and the turning point
Rick Braga’s high cholesterol, his wakeup call, and the turning point
Like many Canadians, Rick Braga has struggled with dangerously high LDL-C cholesterol levels, which raise the risk of heart disease.1
“I come from a family of males who struggle with heart disease,” he says. “My grandfather passed away from heart disease. My father passed away from complications of heart disease. And I'm a father of two that would not like to pass away from heart disease.”
At first, Rick wanted to focus on lifestyle changes alone to get back on the right path. Then he had an alarming wakeup call.
“I had a stroke. And then, a year later, I had two heart attacks and I had a quintuple bypass,” Rick recalls. “It turned out that each affected artery was about 90 per cent blocked.”2
And as he relates in the video, he feared missing out on a big part of his children’s lives. “Honestly, your life just sort of flashes by you. I'm a father of two. I started to wonder whether I’d be here for my kids, whether I could see them grow up,” he says. “All I could think about were my two boys.”
The picture was beyond discouraging. “And they put me on a course of action that most people would have with cholesterol issues. It didn't work out. For some reason, my body still had high numbers of cholesterol,” Rick says. “I was running low on treatment options.”
That is, until Rick met a cardiologist who went the extra mile — one who was especially invested in his heart health. “During one of my hospitalizations for complications, I finally met a cardiologist that would take the time I needed. In the emergency room, he sat down with me for 40 minutes in the ER, which was a new experience for me. He looked at my history, my complications, and he understood that what I'd been doing wasn't working.
“My current cardiologist was able to think outside of the box with new treatments that aren’t necessarily the norm for everyone.”
Watch Rick tell his story, and hear how the attention of one caring cardiologist changed his outlook — and set him on a more hopeful path.3
“I feel energized, my mind is clear,” Rick says, and most importantly, “I wake up every day happy to spend another good day with my two kids.”
Interview with Rick Braga
My name is Rick Braga. I'm 54 years old. I come from a family of males who struggle with heart disease, as well as me. My grandfather passed away from heart disease. My father passed away from complications of heart disease. And I'm a father of two that would not like to pass away from heart disease. I first discovered I had a problem just after COVID. I decided to do my yearly physical.
It was very shortly after my doctor called, and was very concerned to the point where she asked me to sit down. My numbers, for the cholesterol were alarmingly high. That overwhelmed me. And she wanted me to follow a set of suggested protocols to help with my cholesterol. I chose not to take those recommendations. Knowing that I was very fit and active in that world, I decided I would just change my lifestyle. Six months later, I learned that that was the wrong decision. No matter what I did or what I tried, my numbers continued to be the same high, critically high.
After the initial stroke, we got together with the doctor, and they put me on a course of action that most people would have with cholesterol issues. It didn't work out. For some reason, my body still had high numbers in cholesterol. And no matter what course of action, they just seemed to never get to a level where they should be with a person with heart disease in their family. Very shortly after that conversation, I ended up having a heart attack. Two days after that, I had another heart attack. And, found myself in the hospital. They said I would have to have surgery to place some balloons in my arteries to expand them. During that surgery, they found out that all five arteries were blocked to the point where they all had to be replaced.
It was shocking because, at 53 to have or 52 to have a stroke, and a year later to have two heart attacks. And in my case, it really didn't matter. I produce bad cholesterol no matter what. And, it was just gloom and doom. And it was just like, you know, something so simple is yet so hard for me, and all I could think about were my two boys. After my quintuple bypass surgery, I ended up having a few complications. Ended up having clots. I had a blood clot in my leg, my arm, and on my lungs. That all led me to my cardiologist that I have now.
And we had a nice little talk, and he suggested maybe there's a different course of action. My life changed dramatically with the new approach, that my new cardiologist has given me. I wake up knowing that I'm able to be a glimpse of what I used to be before. I wake up every day happy to spend another good day with my two kids. It brightens you up. It gives you such a common thing to have to go through all these problems. You're like, wow, there's light at the end of the tunnel. And and that's what he gave me was, you know, light and this new course of treatment. I look forward to my life expanding with my two kids, possibly with a larger family.
I look forward to all those things that, you know, people my age should be doing. I want other patients to know that we don't all fit in that box. We're all individuals. You need to find someone that's willing to learn about your history, learn about your family, the past, where you are now, where you're going to help you with a personalized course of action that will make you live the life that you want and the life that you deserve. It's important to know that, you have to have trust in your health provider, your caregivers. At the same time, you have to be an advocate for yourself and make sure that you have the proper health care provider, the proper people looking after you. It's a team.