PLANTERSVILLE, Texas — Young newlyweds from Plantersville, Texas, haven't had the wedding bliss they were expecting after an eye-opening diagnosis shortly after their honeymoon.
Cody Canton, 22, was diagnosed with a heart condition that nearly took his life.
For much of his life, Canton has been a rodeo roper, but the best thing he ever roped was his wife's heart.
"She's got a beautiful smile, beautiful hair. She's hardworking," Canton said when talking about his wife, Mallory.
After spending four years together, they got married in October.
"Directly after that, me and Mallory left and went on our honeymoon," Cody said.
They spent seven days hiking around Texas.
When they got back, Cody went straight back to work the next day.
"Later that day is when I went into cardiac arrest," he said.
He said a co-worker saved his life.
"He did CPR until the ambulance got there. And they said if he didn't do that, it would be a lot different situation," Cody said.
Doctors said he had myocarditis -- inflammation of the heart. It was so bad, he was unconscious for six days.
"It was definitely scary, but I think I was just more in shock because he's never had an injury or even been to the hospital," Mallory said.
To this day, doctors are still trying to figure out what caused it. They may never know.
"This factor, this medicine, this virus might have been the cause, but a lot of times, it's not possible to trace it," Dr. Khashayar Hematpour said.
The damage gave Cody an irregular heartbeat so they implanted an ICD, which is both a pacemaker and a defibrillator.
Since October, he has gone into cardiac arrest several times. Each time, the device shocked his heart back into rhythm. He has been hospitalized three times since his marriage -- not exactly newlywed bliss.
"It's just crazy. I told Mallory, 'You have my heart. You need to take care of it,'" Cody said.
She's stayed by his side through it all.
"I guess sickness and health, I thought we would be older," she said.
It's a test of their vows that they weren't expecting so soon.
"Just kinda thought that was something we'd deal with later in life, not the first week," Mallory said.
Cody's doctor said he thinks the most recent surgery fixed the problem in his heart but he wants him to take it slow. He said if everything heals quickly, Cody will be able to go back to normal life, including roping, within the next year.