If it hadn’t been for the swift reaction of his colleagues, U.S. Army Operational Test Command operations research systems analyst Mike Phillips is convinced he might not be alive today.

Phillips, from the Maneuver Test Directorate, had just completed training for the Nett Warrior System at Fort Polk, La., on Aug. 15, and was planning to return to Fort Hood the next day. He was sitting in a test team vehicle at a gas station while it was being refueled when he received “the biggest massive shock I can imagine ever having,” he said.

“I was in the vehicle when it happened and, for some reason, I decided I needed to walk it off, whatever it was that happened,” he said. “I got out of the vehicle only to discover that I couldn’t move at all.”

His first thought was that he’d had a heart attack. Luckily, Elbert Grayson, a supervisor military test plans analyst, and Mike Norris, an operations research systems analyst, who were also in the vehicle, could tell by the look on Phillips’ face that something was wrong.

“All I can say is thanks be to God that Mike’s stroke occurred at a time and location that facilitated our ability to ensure that he got the medical attention he needed,” Grayson said. “I estimate we arrived at the ER within five minutes of our realization of the seriousness of his condition.”

Hearing that Phillips credited him and Norris with saving his life, Grayson responded, “We can’t take any credit. It was only God’s divine providence that we were able to help.”

“They immediately drove me to the Fort Polk ER, which triaged me to Christus Saint Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, La.,” Phillips said. “My wife arrived very soon afterward and I was there for six days before they released me to follow up with my doctors at Scott & White Hospital in Temple.”

According to Phillips, his leadership has been supportive of him throughout his recovery, helping him adjust to his “new normal” of residual weakness in his left leg (he now uses a cane) and short-term memory loss.

“I wear a medical alert bracelet,” he said, “and I don’t go anywhere without my iPad.”

Relying on three apps, Phillips keeps on top of his medical issues via high tech: IBP (for blood pressure), Healthspek (for health records) and Carezone (for medications). The applications allow him to chart his vital signs, update his medical records, check his blood pressure and keep records of all his medications.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point with an Infantry commission, Phillips started as a military systems analyst at OTC in 1991.

After retiring from the Army, he worked as a Department of the Army contractor supporting the Army Evaluation Center monitoring digital systems certification at the Central Technical Support Facility at Fort Hood. In 2004, the Army converted OTC military ORSA positions to civilian so Phillips returned to OTC, working in the Maneuver Support and Sustainment and Aviation test directorates before joining MTD.

Married to his high school sweetheart for 38 years, Phillips has a son and daughter. His primary hobby is church, he said. “I’m a deacon and a Sunday school teacher at the First Baptist Church of Copperas Cove.”

After all he’s experienced, Phillips, a Sumter, S.C., native, said his message to everyone is “prepare for your first stroke now.”