SURVIVING TO SERVING

SURVIVING TO SERVING
A Journey Toward Healing Innovation
Exclusive Interview with Alex Bussenger
Featured in 'Innerviews'
Hosted by Allié McGuire

​Alex Bussenger didn’t choose the path that would define his career — it chose him. Facing not one, but two life-threatening medical emergencies, Alex emerged from recovery with a radical new perspective on what healing truly means and a mission to transform how we prevent and navigate illness. From the loneliness of recovery to the creation of tools that connect survivors and a venture capital fund aimed at proactive health solutions, his story is a testament to turning survival into service.

ALLIÉ: Let’s go back. Before your health crisis, Alex, who were you? And I don’t mean the resume version, but the internal version. What drove you? What worried you? What did you believe about strength and success before your body stopped you in your tracks?

ALEX: Well, thank you again for having me. Back then, I will admit, I was definitely a lot leaner and fitter. I grew up playing sports my whole life, worked out probably five or six days a week, and did a lot of heavy lifting and high intensity cardio. That was a great analogy for the rest of my life. I was going very intensely, very focused on short term results. More of the finance mindset, but staying away from the resume version, I was very focused in that moment.

​I would say the biggest difference was awareness. The awareness of death was so far distant. I felt invincible and never really thought about it. I was definitely one of those people who had not been to the doctor for a checkup in years. I was focused on short term results and what was going to happen next, and I did not think much about the long term future.

ALLIÉ: But then that changed. So let’s go to a different moment in your life. Would you mind taking us back to the day you nearly died for the first time? What did it feel like, not just physically but emotionally, to confront your own mortality in real time?

​ALEX: Yeah, it was really intense. I was driving home late on a Sunday night. Luckily, I had made it home from Connecticut. I live in New York City. I came upstairs to my apartment and had been home about 15 minutes when it started.

It began as low intensity but very quickly ramped up. Within minutes, I felt pain in my neck and chest, and the intensity escalated extremely fast. It was one of the worst pains of my life. It was an aortic dissection. The main artery from my heart tore, the one that delivers blood to the rest of my body. It has an extremely high fatality rate. Many people die on the spot or on the way to the hospital.

My case was unique because it also cut off blood flow to my left leg. The worst pain was actually in my leg. It was unbearable. I was on the ground and could not even get up. When the paramedics arrived, I could not crawl to the door to let them in. They had to go back down, get my key, and come in.

It was around one in the morning, and I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I truly felt like I was going to die. I grew up Catholic, though I had not followed it closely, but in that moment I was screaming to God, begging to stay alive.

ALLIÉ: And if that does not change your perspective on everything, let’s go there. Was there a moment when fear gave way to something else, like clarity? Did everything suddenly become clear?

ALEX: I would say that clarity came during recovery. In the moment, you are in survival mode. I do not remember the ambulance ride, but I do remember arriving at the hospital. I had to sign documents and gave them my parents’ phone number.

The clarity came later. After a twelve hour open heart surgery, months of recovery, and inpatient rehab, I was just trying to make it through each day. But a few months later, looking back, I realized something important.

I was not isolated. I had friends, family, and colleagues visiting me in the ICU. I had a stack of cards this big. But I still felt incredibly lonely.

That is when it hit me. There is a difference between isolation and loneliness. I reached out to over one hundred patients, people who had gone through surgery, chronic illness, or cancer. What I learned was that people crave connection with others who have been through something similar. And there was no strong personalized solution for that. That is what led me to create Heal Together, which we have now rebranded to Heal.

ALLIÉ: I love that you said there is a difference between isolation and loneliness. Because you had all the cards and all the visitors, and still felt alone. That must have been the moment you realized the system is failing people and that you could help change that. Tell us more about the platform you have built.

ALEX: It gave me clarity that I wanted to work in preventative, personalized healthcare. We launched a venture fund, and about a year and a half later, after my second near death experience, we created Heal.

It started as a one to one connection platform. For example, if you are a younger person recovering from cardiac surgery, you might only know older individuals who have gone through it. You may not share lifestyle or recovery experiences.

So we created an algorithm that matches people based on a range of criteria, including lifestyle, preferences, and medical experience.

What we realized quickly is that people also want group connection. So now we offer moderator led peer groups with six to twelve people and a trained facilitator. This has been valuable for individuals, employers focused on wellness, and hospitals that want to improve patient recovery experiences.

ALLIÉ: I love this, using technology to facilitate real human connection. 

Let’s pause and go back. The second time you almost died. Bring us into that moment.

ALEX: About a year and a half later, I had complications. I had lost blood flow to my left leg during the first event. After my heart surgery, they installed a synthetic graft to reroute blood.

That graft became infected and dislodged. I had extreme pain and needed surgery. It was supposed to be a two hour procedure. While I was on the operating table, my arteries ruptured. I lost a massive amount of blood. My surgeon said blood shot up and covered his face. He had to bring in four additional surgeons immediately.

He later told me that if I had been anywhere else, even the emergency room, I would have died within fifteen minutes. But because I was already on the operating table, they were able to control it.

I see that as an incredibly lucky blessing.

ALLIÉ: Absolutely!

Let’s shift for a moment. If someone listening is in the middle of their own medical crisis, scared and feeling alone, what would you want them to know about healing, not clinically but humanly?

ALEX: Two things. 

First, listen to your body. When I had pain and some bleeding from an incision, my doctors said we could wait a month. The scan did not show anything wrong. But my body told me something was off. I went in a week later instead of waiting, and that decision saved my life.

​Second, you are not alone. Our studies show that many people feel lonely during recovery. Many ask themselves if what they are experiencing is normal and have no one to talk to. Some even make unnecessary calls to the emergency room because they cannot connect with someone who understands.

So, if you feel that way, you are not alone.

​ALLIÉ: One last question. What have you learned about life that you would not have discovered if your heart had not forced you to listen?

ALEX: It may sound cliché, but two things.

First, our time is limited. Before all this, I never thought about death. It felt distant. But when you go through near death experiences, the line between life and death is not separate. It feels like one.

That realization is not scary. It is freeing. It pushes you to do what you want to do now. I heard a quote that said the longer you wait to do something you want, the less of a future you have to spend doing it.

Second, I used to care too much about what people thought. But when you are in an ICU bed, completely vulnerable, you realize that none of that matters.

At the end of your life, you are not thinking about impressing people. You are thinking about whether you spent enough time with people you love and whether you made a positive impact.

Every second spent worrying about others’ opinions is time taken away from that. It is a costly trade. ∎
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Learn more about Heal: healtogether.ai