Timely Heart Care During a Heart Attack Helps Joe Feed the Community
Joe Gilbert runs his Burlington Township store with a schmear of goodness. He didn't let a heart attack and coronary artery bypass surgery stop him from donating Brooklyn-style bagels to local organizations and food banks.
Joe Gilbert never forgets where he came from.
One of 10 children of a single mother in Camden, Joe often wondered if there would be enough food to go around, or even if they would have a place to live.
As a teen, he learned to make bagels and, over the decades, earned a loyal following on both sides of the Delaware River. As the owner of Bagel Zone in Burlington Township, he always keeps an eye on helping those in need—not even letting a heart attack earlier this year stop him from donating scores of Brooklyn-style bagels to local organizations, schools, churches, and food banks.
“I don’t think twice about donating. I’m helping someone out who’s hungry,” said Joe, 62. “That’s instilled in my head from growing up poor.”
The First Signs of Heart Trouble
A self-described workaholic, Joe says he didn’t pay much attention to his health. In 2021, he began having trouble breathing and had swelling in his legs. He went to urgent care, which sent him to the emergency department at Virtua Willingboro Hospital.
“I felt something was wrong, but I kept working,” said Joe. “All my life, I never called out sick. It’s not like me to call out. If I get a cold, I tell myself to shut up and go to work.”
At the hospital, doctors learned Joe’s heart was working at only a fraction of what it should. Several of his coronary arteries were blocked, and his mitral valve was leaking, allowing fluid to build up in his lungs and lower extremities.
Medication and diet changes helped, and by 2023, his heart was functioning normally.
“He was compliant with his meds, but he was not taking it easy,” said Virtua cardiologist Michael Horwitz, DO.
The Bagel Gods Kept Me Alive During My Heart Attack
Working long hours, Joe admits he returned to some of his old eating habits. In early January 2025, severe chest pains and trouble breathing sent him to the emergency department at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
Virtua cardiothoracic surgeon Arthur Ng, MD, performed a high-risk triple coronary artery bypass surgery and implanted a new mechanical heart valve.
“I was walking around hauling groceries during my heart attack,” he said. “The bagel gods kept me alive that day.”
Joe spent nearly a month in the hospital, including 21 days in critical care. At home, he needed intensive cardiac rehabilitation, including learning how to walk again. With Bagel Zone closed, customers repaid Joe’s kindness by raising money to help pay his bills.
Back to making 22 varieties of bagels and homemade cream cheese, the Gloucester City resident is more focused on his medication and diet to strengthen his heart.
“I miss the Buffalo wings, cheesesteaks, and lasagna,” he joked. “But I had to cut them out.”
While Joe will need heart care well into the future, he’s more dedicated than ever to helping the community.
“Everyone likes it when Joe comes to see me,” said Dr. Horwitz. “He brings bagels and three or four containers of cream cheese—and brown bags so everyone can take them home!”
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Heart health is complex. That's why Virtua cardiologists use the latest approaches to prevent and treat heart disease. To make an appointment with a Virtua heart specialist, call 888-847-8823.
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