“It was a year ago today, “David Guenther, 44, says incredulously looking at the calendar in his back office at J. David’s Custom Clothiers in Valencia. “I stood up to get out of bed and the room starting spinning,” he continues. His quick-thinking wife, Denise, called an ambulance and thus began an amazing saga of survival and recovery that continues to this day.
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By Katy Doyle “It was a year ago today, “David Guenther, 44, says incredulously looking at the calendar in his back office at J. David’s Custom Clothiers in Valencia. “I stood up to get out of bed and the room starting spinning,” he continues. His quick-thinking wife, Denise, called an ambulance and thus began an amazing saga of survival and recovery that continues to this day. At the hospital near his home in Lancaster, a CAT scan was ordered right away. Soon after, a male nurse told David matter of factly, “Dude, you’re not going anywhere. You’ve got bleeding on your brain.” Without immediate intervention, he literally had minutes to live and only a two percent chance of survival. Most of the time, his condition is discovered during an autopsy. Given hefty doses of medicine to lower his blood pressure and wearing inflatable pants to push blood through his body, he was too unstable to airlift or transport for life-saving surgery. For the next three days, nurses checked his blood pressure every 15 minutes. “I was living my life in increments of yes or no, live or die,” David says. “It gave me lots of time to reflect on life and start prioritizing.” Eventually, he underwent 20 hours of brain surgery at UCLA. “I am so grateful to Dr. Nestor Gonzalez,” David says. “He is one of the world’s premier neurosurgeons and my personal angel. And my wife’s calm confidence throughout was a blessing.” Though he is currently undergoing radiation for a recent related discovery, he maintains that he wouldn’t trade the experience. “It’s a unique opportunity to be told that you’re dying. I realized that I wanted to be here for my children’s milestones. I wanted to see my son, Ricky, graduate from high school and my daughter Krysta’s wedding,” he explains. “I am thankful to have lived.” Because of the aneurysm, David was out of his store for several months. He owes a great deal of thanks to Aaron, Edward and Wilvert for seamlessly running his 27-year-old business in his absence. “They absolutely put the store on their backs and carried it,” he explains. David and his team assist men in creating an image and looking their best, whether it be casual or professional, by offering nearly a half-million dollars of inventory and custom, hand-made, one-of-a-kind clothes, both with free tailoring forever. He has customers in 31 states, 50 of whom are professional athletes, and great word of mouth, particularly about his unparalleled customer service, keeps his business growing even in tough economic times. “We offer a quality product at a fair price,” he says. “We take total care of our customers, period.” David is also indebted to the outpouring of love from his SCV customers, with whom he shares a special bond. “The fact that they choose to spend their money with me, I don’t take that lightly,” he says. He had several presidents of Fortune 500 companies volunteer to help out. “One of them offered to deliver purchases to Los Angeles in his private car,” he says. “I was and continue to be overwhelmed.” |
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Photo by Gary Choppé |