HOUSTON- Most of us love music.
For Chris Gray, it’s something more.
“With people like him, it sounds really nerdy but it’s almost like it has the power to explain everything else in the world,” said Craig Hlavaty. “It’s almost like if you’re having a bad time, there’s a song for it.”
So it might come as no surprise to hear that both Gray and Hlavaty are music editors for the Houston Press.
“Chris is really good about picking out bands that people don’t give credit or aren’t very popular,” admits Hlavaty. “With our mechanism here, we can shed light on them and we can get everybody to join in it.”
On Friday morning, the music nearly stopped for Gray.
The 36-year old was waiting for the light rail in the 3500 block of Main Street to ride to work and had a heart attack.
“He fell over and someone administered CPR while someone called an ambulance,” said Chris’ brother John Gray. “I understand they worked on him a long time and had to shock him four times to get his heart going again.”
In the meantime, the puzzled Houston Press staff wondered why Chris didn’t show up at the office. Coworkers checked his apartment and sent out a desperate plea.
“The call went out on social media—Twitter, Facebook, Text,” said Hlavaty. “If you know where Chris is, please let us know.”
The call would come hours later from Gray’s younger brother.
It left the staff in shock.
“Of all the people that look like they wouldn’t start crying, I’m gonna cry now,” said Hlavaty. “I didn’t know what to do at that point. It was like my heart sank.”
Chris Gray is now out of a coma but still sedated. Doctors believe he could have minimal brain damage and plan to wean him off a breathing tube on Monday.
The Gray family is incredibly grateful to the good Samaritan who stepped up to perform CPR.
“We’re incredibly lucky that it happened at the rail station where people could help him because if it would have happened 15 to 20 minutes earlier while he was at his apartment, “ said John Gray, “I don’t even like to think about it.”
