Бывший болельщик LSU Роджер Кутрер, перенесший операцию на сердце, будет отмечен как герой на матче в Тигер Стэдиуме

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A Baton Rouge man will be honored on the field at Tiger Stadium Saturday as this game’s Our Lady of the Lake “Geaux Hero,” less than three months after emergency triple bypass surgery. Roger Cutrer has held LSU season tickets since 1993 and has tailgated on Victory Hill for 40 years. This Saturday, he said, will be different. “I get to be on the sideline for the first quarter, which is going to be cool,” Cutrer said. “And then they told me last night, ‘I’m walking out on the field with the cheerleaders, and I’m going to hold the go sign, which we’ll see how that goes, but it’ll be fun.’” Cutrer will be recognized on the field between the first and second quarters of Saturday’s game. He’ll be holding the Geaux sign on the field and lead sections of the stadium in cheer. A tailgate tradition on Victory Hill Cutrer’s tailgate spot is at the top of Victory Hill, to the right of the Indian Mounds, straight ahead and behind the circle. He parks a bread truck painted purple and gold, with “LSU” painted on the side, and fills it with food, drinks, and guests for every home game. Ahead of Saturday’s game, the Budweiser Clydesdales are scheduled to stop at Cutrer’s tailgate for about a half hour, around 4 to 4:30 p.m., for a toast while they wait for the LSU band. The Clydesdales will then lead the band down Victory Hill. A busy life before surgery Cutrer owns a title research business in Baton Rouge that he has run with a partner, Drew, for 25 years. He said he worked 12- to 16-hour days for years and traveled often with his wife, Heather, whom he has been married to for six years. A checkup turns into major surgery Cutrer said he started feeling unwell in mid-April. “I started really feeling bad middle of April,” Cutrer said. “I just started to note, something is off. I thought it was anxiety.” Cutrer said he had never experienced anxiety attacks before and initially thought that was the cause of his symptoms. He described fatigue and “spells” that brought tightness across his chest, arms, and back. Cutrer said doctors ran a series of tests, including a calcium score, an EKG, and a stress test, and found no problems. A nuclear stress test, which he called a “last-ditch effort,” showed one blockage. Doctors initially planned an outpatient stent procedure. During that procedure, the doctor found two additional blockages and told Cutrer a triple bypass was needed. Cutrer said the on-call doctor offered to perform the surgery immediately or wait until Monday. “I’m not sitting around stressing for two days, three days,” Cutrer said. “Let’s just do it.” “My widow maker was 99 blockage and the other two were over 90,” Cutrer said. Cutrer said he was taken into surgery within minutes and woke up the next morning in a hospital room with tubes attached to him and Heather holding his hand. “That’s my other angel. It’s my wife,” Cutrer said. “I couldn’t have done any of this without her. She’s been my nurse and my rock.” Cutrer said he was on his way to Chicago to watch the Cubs the weekend his blockages were discovered, and his doctor told him he could not make the trip. Warning signs and risk factors Dr. Federico De Puy, an interventional cardiologist at Our Lady of the Lake since 2021, said Cutrer came to him as a referral after Cutrer began experiencing chest pain during exertion. “The story is an otherwise healthy gentleman who recently started experiencing some chest pains, in particular whenever he was exerting himself,” De Puy said. “That was a red flag to me.” De Puy said Cutrer exercised regularly and ate well, with few classic risk factors for heart disease. “It’s uncommon for us to see patients who are otherwise very healthy and exercise for them to present with some sort of major heart issue,” De Puy said. “It does happen; it’s uncommon. That’s why it’s important for us to recognize these things.” De Puy said heart disease results from a combination of factors, including genetics and environment, such as secondhand smoke exposure, sedentary jobs, and diet. He said in Cutrer’s case, factors beyond his control contributed to the disease. De Puy said the classic symptom of heart disease is chest discomfort, often described as a feeling of pressure on the chest. He said some patients instead experience shortness of breath or fatigue, and that discomfort can come from other sources in the chest, including the esophagus, lungs, ribs, and bones. De Puy said pain from the heart is typically not localized to one specific spot, unlike pain from the skin or muscles, because of how internal nerves function. He said heart pain can radiate to the jaw, throat, or arms. De Puy said other risk factors for heart disease include high cholesterol, inflammatory diets, and lack of exercise. He recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week and a low-inflammatory diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, to lower risk of heart disease and cancer. Recovery Cutrer said he is 10 weeks out from surgery and continues to recover. He said he could not walk to a door 10 feet away in his hospital room during the first two days after surgery. He said he now walks 2 miles a day on a treadmill and does light gym work, in addition to working about six hours a day before resting. Cutrer said friends who previously underwent similar surgery have coached him through recovery and told him he will feel improved energy in the coming months. Message to others Cutrer said he does not want to be seen as a hero but hopes his experience encourages others to seek medical attention for symptoms. “I didn’t want to be a hero. I wanted to help the message,” Cutrer said. “If I can just help one man or one woman go get checked and save a heart attack and save a life. And man, I feel great. And I’ve had so many people reach out, go, man, I’m going, I’m going to get checked. I’m doing this. And it makes me feel good.” Depuy said his biggest takeaway is for patients not to ignore chest discomfort, even if it seems minor, and to follow up with a primary care physician or cardiologist. What’s next Cutrer said he and Heather plan to take a trip at Thanksgiving, when she is off from her teaching job, and are planning a trip to Europe next summer. Only weeks ago, Cutrer struggled to walk to a door 10 feet from his hospital bed. Saturday, he will be honored on the field at Tiger Stadium, with Heather by his side. Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline. Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox. Watch the latest WAFB news and weather now.