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STORY TO TELL I WAS NEVER SO GLAD JUST BE HOME WHEN WE GOT TO THE HOUSE FOR DEREK AND HATSUE ME SMITH A TRIP TO JAPAN FOR HAD SOOMI’S FATHER’S FUNERAL TURNED INTO AN DID SEVEN WEEKS STAY IN JUNE WHILE ON THE TRAIN TO HER HOMETOWN DEREK STARTED TO HAVE PAIN IN HIS LEFT ARM AND JAW. I LOOKED UP THE SYMPTOMS OF MY PHONE AND IT’S HAD A HEART ATTACK AND I WAS LIKE, WELL, THEN THAT CAN’T BE IT NOT ME AND I DON’T HAVE ANY CHEST PAIN OR ANYTHING. SO BUT THEN A FEW MINUTES LATER THAN I STARTED GETTING SOME LIKE CHEST PAIN LIKE REAL TIGHT THE CONDUCTOR CALLED FIRST RESPONDERS WHO WERE WAITING FOR THE AT THE NEXT TRAIN STOP, DEREK. HEART STOPPED AN AED SAVED HIS LIFE. I WAS HOLDING HIS HAND THERE. OH MY GOD THAT HE STOPPED A THEN YOU KNOW I THOUGHT OH MY GOODNESS, YOU KNOW MY DAD. I SAID MY DAD DON’T TAKE ME. DON’T TAKE HIM, PLEASE DEREK HAD SURGERY FOR A BLOCKED ARTERY NINE DAYS LATER. HE GOT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, BUT COULD NOT MAKE THE 13-HOUR FLIGHT HOME THE HOSPITAL AND TOUCH IKAWA. THEY DON’T TAKE ANY INSURANCE EXCEPT FOR THE LOCAL JAPANESE INSURANCE. SO YOU HAVE TO PAY EVERYTHING OUT OF POCKET BEFORE YOU CAN LEAVE THE BILL WAS MORE THAN $20,000 BACK HOME THEIR FRIEND SARAH SET UP A GO FUND ME PAGE AND HELD FUNDRAISERS TO DATE HAS RAISED MORE THAN $30,000. IT GIVES ME A LOT OF FAITH IN PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, AND WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN PEOPLE WILL COME OUT AND HELP YOU NOW BACK HOME DARE CONTINUES REHABILITATION THE SMITHS FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR THE SUPPORT AND THANKFUL. DEREK IS ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY EVERYBODY SAY SOME MIRACLE DEREK AND HEAD SUMI STILL HAVE MOUNTING MEDICAL BILLS AND DEREK STILL ISN’T ABLE TO GO BACK TO WORK. SO THE GOFUNDME PAGE IS STILL ACTIVE. YOU CAN FIND A LINK ON OUR WEBSITE WBALTV.COM

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The owners of a business in Ellicott City are thanking the community for their support after quite an ordeal overseas. The couple was stuck in Japan for most of the summer after a medical emergency and a miracle.The Matcha Time Café is back open full time in Ellicott City. The owners are glad to be back home from Japan and they have quite a story to tell. "I was never so glad to just be home when we got to the house," Derek Smith said. For Derek and Hatsumi Smith, a trip to Japan for Hatsumi Smith's father's funeral turned into an unexpected seven-week stay. In June, while on the train to her hometown, Derek Smith started to have pain in his left arm and jaw. "I looked up the symptoms on my phone and it said, 'Heart attack,' and I was like, 'That can’t be it,' and 'Not me, I don’t have any chest pain or anything,'" Smith said. "Then a few minutes later, I started getting some chest pain, like real tight."The conductor called first responders, who were waiting for them at the next train stop. Smith's heart stopped, and an automated external defibrillator saved his life. "I was holding his hand, and then, oh my God he stopped, and it was something. Then I thought, 'Oh my goodness, my dad.' I said: 'My dad. Don’t take him. Don’t take him please," Hatsumi Smith said. Derek Smith had surgery for a blocked artery. Nine days later, he got out of the hospital, but could not make the 13-hour flight home. "The hospital in Tachikawa, they don’t take any insurance except the local Japanese insurance, so you have to pay everything out of pocket before you leave," Smith said. The bill was more than $20,000. Back home, their friend Arditti, set up a GoFundMe page and held fundraisers. To date, it has raised more than $30,000. "It gives me a lot of faith in people and when the chips are down, people will come out and help you," Arditti said.Back home, Smith continues rehabilitation. The Smiths are forever grateful for the support, and thankful Derek Smith is on the road to recovery. "Everybody said it’s a miracle," Hatsumi Smith said.The Smiths still have mounting medical bills and Derek Smith still isn’t able to go back to work, so the GoFundMe page is still active. Click here for more information.