HAAM Musician Spotlight: AJ Vallejo & Douglass Day
“If the past year taught us anything it’s that life is unpredictable…..and precious.
Two HAAM musicians understand this truth better than most. Both AJ Vallejo and Doug Day suffered life-threatening heart attacks before their 40th birthday. ”
AJ Vallejo, vocalist and lead guitarist for the iconic rock band Vallejo, experienced warning signs like dizziness and arm pain in the weeks before his heart attack in 2009. Knowing that he had HAAM health coverage gave AJ the peace of mind to go get his symptoms checked out. He saw a doctor who referred him to Seton hospital for a stress test. AJ had a heart attack right there on the treadmill.
“I’d be dead for 13 years now. I kind of feel like it’s a second life that I got and I truly believe HAAM is a big part of saving my life,” AJ said in a recent interview with HAAM.
Even though it took him more than a year to fully recover, AJ views his heart attack as a “blessing in disguise,” since it forced him to slow down and live a healthier life. He sees his Seton cardiologist regularly, focuses on getting good sleep and exercises regularly.
“I got rid of the beer fridge and replaced it with a home gym,” said AJ, who has two young kids with his partner, Kaycee.
Three years ago at the age of 36, Doug Day, was hiking in Arches National Park when his legs collapsed under him. He had to be assisted out of the park by rangers and eventually helicoptered to a major hospital for emergency surgery to place two stents in his heart.
Day is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, currently playing drums with Ruby Dice and Jonathan Terrell. In his 20 years in Austin, he has also played with Austin legends like the Eric Tessmer Band and Crooks.
After being released from the hospital, Day, faced not only a long road to recovery, but exorbitant medical bills. HAAM navigators not only helped set Day up with a local primary care physician and cardiologist, they referred him to an expert at Foundation Communities who helped him navigate his medical bills.
Day got married last summer and is now the proud father of a baby boy. Like hundreds of Austin musicians, he is proud to be a part of HAAM and thankful for the lifeline it provides to musicians of all ages and backgrounds.
“HAAM is a buoy for so many Austin musicians helping us afford to live our lives here and make our cultural contributions to this great city,” Day said. “In the weeks and months after my heart attack, HAAM was my biggest ally and for that I will always be grateful.”