Message From Bruce Adams

So, on October 10, I had a heart attack that required emergency surgery.   

First, some very good news. I will be okay, and I have so many people to thank for helping get me to this point. For this forum, let me just say that our League team did not miss a beat. When we worked through COVID together four years ago, we learned how to respond to adversity. Not to be outdone, our League Board has placed the same trust and confidence in the League team as I do. For that, I am ever grateful—from top to bottom, our League is ready, willing and able to rise to this challenge. And thank you to everyone who sent a note, checked in for an update, sent a text, said a prayer or even just sent good thoughts in my direction. I feel healthier and lifted up just knowing you care. 

I understand there are more than a few questions sprinkled amidst the well-wishes. While I do not have all the answers at this point, here are some facts about what happened and how the road ahead looks to me, at least as best as I can see it right now. 

On October 10, around 3:15p.m., in the middle of a League meeting, I experienced a severe shortness of breath and other symptoms that led me to dial 911. By 6:30 p.m., I was in surgery. Here’s what happened in between. 

While en route to St. Francis Hospital, paramedics wirelessly transmitted my EKG directly to the hospital who determined my symptoms would likely require immediate cardiac catheterization and they mobilized the team to meet me in the ambulance bay. By 5:30, the catheterization was complete and the team determined that my arterial blockages required bypass surgery. By 6:30, my eight-hour surgery was underway and successfully completed without complications. Had this medical ballet missed even one beat, I may not have made it out of the hospital alive.  But everything worked the way it should and, but for a couple fleeting hours on October 11, I did not regain consciousness for three days.  

By Monday, October 14, I awoke in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was immediately put to work retraining my lungs to breathe fully on their own. Much like black holes, ICUs seem to have the ability to stop, stretch and bend both time and objective truth. I’m not sure when it happened, or what it felt like, but there was a moment, one that left me with an abiding belief that all would be well, that I would recover and regain full capacity. 

So, that is what happened. Here’s how I am doing. 

After spending a full week in the hospital with 6 days in ICU, I have been discharged to home with the expectation that I will make a full recovery. When my cardiologist says I am strong enough, I will begin cardiac rehabilitation. A full recovery. Doesn’t that sound so good? Honestly, that’s the best news I ever could have asked for … in that moment. Because receiving the prognosis of a full recovery on the day of discharge only means that my incisions will turn into scars and the bones will knit themselves back over my repaired heart. But the heart is nothing more than a simple pump; it is so well designed, it should run for 100 years or more without the need for service. So now I have a heart that has been altered, assaulted and replaced back inside its bony jail.  

But the reality is a full recovery can turn from hopeful prognosis to the coldest of comforts if I do not take a holistic approach to my healing, including the less visible and measurable contributing factors. This may take a while, perhaps several months. But I plan to be back and doing my thing, advocating for our state’s credit unions before too long. When you love your work as much as I do, and believe in the Credit Union Advantage the way I do, the motivation to do the work comes easily. As always, I am ever in your service.   

In the meantime, we have the battle-tested and prepared team at the Connecticut League who are more than able to keep our core promises to our members and partners—and this team has the full confidence of our Board. We have our member CEOs, senior staff and employees of League-affiliated credit unions who advance the credit union mission in positive and meaningful ways, serving their members and providing trusted financial stewardship at every important phase in their lives. 

Mike Tyson once famously said, after a decisive win, “Everyone has a plan until they get hit.” 

Well, I got hit, no question about it. But guess what? We had a plan to deal with it, one that allowed us to have an amazing APEX week thanks to our peerless team, and we will keep moving forward as I get myself back into working shape. I have every confidence we will end the year strong and will be poised to make 2025 our best year yet. 

These past two weeks have reminded me not only of the fragility of our bodies, but of the countless blessings that surround me and lift me back to health. My kids, my family, my friends and all of these amazing people with whom I am honored to share my professional life—please know how grateful I am to all of you for being a part of my life, and how energized and optimistic I am to continue walking with you all, celebrating our successes and appreciate all of life’s joys together. 

As always,  

Bruce Adams