ATLANTA — Bill Archer is quick to talk about motorcycles. He's even faster to share how it feels to ride.
"There's the sound of the air on your bike, the wind at your chest, the road," he said.
But he hasn't had that feeling in four months. He is starting back slowly, building up to top speed.
"I've taken a bike up to about 130 on the Salt Flats," he said - but it wasn't the speed of the bike he felt in September. His heart was at 130 beats a minute.
Archer suffered a widowmaker heart attack weeks after being diagnosed with coronavirus for the second time. It's caused by a total blockage of plaque, or cholesterol buildup, upstream in a key artery.
Doctors performed CPR for 25 minutes at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital to keep him alive. For the 15 days that followed, Archer was unconscious.
When he finally woke up, he was still left in the dark.
"My family was told not to tell me, and my daughter's just 18, so she had to witness all this, and she had to be the one who was strong," he said.
While his daughter had to stay strong, Archer had to find new strength.
"The heart had sustained so much damage, he was in poor shape, in shock," said Dr. Ezequiel Molina, the surgical director of the heart transplant program at Piedmont Atlanta
He said there is new evidence to suggest patients with COVID are at a higher risk for heart attacks and explained the virus sometimes damages the organ to the point of no return.
"I don't know how to describe that moment, it just seems nonsensical to hear, you lost your heart, you got a new heart, and you got a new chance at life," said Archer.
Molina performed a heart transplant to give Archer the chance to live his life in the slow lane.
"I've had to slow down, and I am seeing things differently. I am seeing the side of the road differently - and that means a lot to me and my family," he said.
Archer now hits the road with a new beat.
"There's just as much joy going fast as there is enjoying a long, slow curve," he said.
With a new heart, Archer wants to slow down and enjoy the ride.
"That was given back to me. I get a second chance," he said. "So now it's on me to make good on what was done. It's a gift."
Scientists are still researching the damage COVID-19 can do to the heart, adding that they're learning more about the effects every day.
Molina said it's a good reminder that with an infection or especially a reinfection, patients need to pay more attention and seek treatment as soon as possible.