A Herald Q&A: Legislator Fran Becker on the mend after heart attack

Nassau County Legislator Francis X. Becker Jr. was stricken with a heart attack while working at his home on May 30. He was hospitalized and treated at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside.
Becker, 62, a Republican from Lynbrook, has represented the 6th Legislative District, which includes Lynbrook, Malverne, North Lynbrook, Valley Stream and portions of Franklin Square, Hewlett, Rockville Centre and Woodmere, for 20 years. A 1971 graduate of Lynbrook High School, Becker attended Nassau Community College and Hofstra University, where he studied business finance. A certified financial planner, he is president of Becker & Associates Planning Services in the village. He and his wife, Clementine, live in the home of his late grandfather, former U.S. Rep. Frank J. Becker. They have three grown daughters.
The Herald chatted with Becker about his harrowing experience, and how he is recuperating.

Herald: What happened on that day?
Francis X. Becker: I had a heart attack, but I didn’t have the usual symptoms. I was doing some work around the house and I straining myself a little bit. They found out later that a piece of plaque broke off from a vein that created a blood clot that completely blocked one of my arteries. I started to feel really tired, laid down, and then the pain got worse — like a nail drilling into my chest. The pain was not going away, which was a good thing. I asked my daughter, Diana, and her boyfriend, James, to drive me to the hospital.

H: What happened once you got there?
FB: I managed to stay awake on the way to the hospital. Then I was on a table, and mostly awake — they were working on me, snaking a tube (stent). The shocked me 14 times to get my heart into a normal rhythm … I felt two of them. I had a defibrillator put in to keep my heart from fluttering — it’s like an insurance policy.

H: How are you feeling now?