To be in the doctor's office at Mt. Sinai St. Luke's Hospital for a checkup is no small accomplishment for Bronx resident Raymond Ross, 41. Last summer, the groom-to-be collapsed and was rushed into emergency heart surgery.

"I thought it was just a typical upset stomach, but it wasn't going away," he recalled.

Ross suffered a rare aortic dissection; his main heart artery tore open. He also suffered a stroke and kidney failure.

"Without emergency surgery, most people die immediately," said Dr. Gabriele Di Luozzo, Ross's heart surgeon at Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s

Even with surgery, Di Luozzo said no more than 20% of patients survive.

Still, Ross was in an induced medical coma for a month. Then he needed a second heart operation in May to further repair the artery. Ross says in addition to the medical care, what kept him going was the woman who won his heart.

"If it wasn’t for her, I think I don’t know where I would have been," he said. "I owe a lot to her. She has been there since day one."

Ross was discharged from Mt. Sinai St. Luke's on May 28th. Three weeks later he and Ashley Ruiz headed to City Hall with their families to get finally get married. Ross recalled the moment he saw her in her wedding dress.

"Everything hit me that I easily could have not been there," he said.

Ross says there is a lesson in his story. Turns out, he had high blood pressure, but did not know it.

Before this I didn't take blood pressure seriously. They call it a silent killer for a reason," he said.

About one in three Americans have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but because the condition oftentimes does not show symptoms many people do not know they have it.

Even when high blood pressure is diagnosed, Di Luozzo said it's important to control it to prevent stroke and heart disease, two of the leading causes of death in the country.

"Controlling the blood pressure, obviously, we think of medicines, but there’s diet. Diet plays a big part in all of this and exercise," said Luozzo.

Ross says he now exercises regularly, watches what he eats, checks his blood pressure, and takes medication. After all, he said he's not just living for himself, but also his wife.

"I couldn’t think life without my wife so I’m very happy to be able to continue my life with her and I’m very happy for the future."