A Harlingen barber is working to get back on his feet after having open-heart surgery — a procedure that forced him to close up shop.

A closed sign still hangs in the window of the City Barbershop in Harlingen after it was put up earlier this month. 

“If I hadn't had the surgery, I wouldn't be here to tell the story,” Roel Zoerner said.

Zoerner owns the barber shop, and had quadruple bypass surgery on Aug. 15. The surgery came two and a half weeks after a cardiologist told him he had a blockage in his arteries.

“He said, ‘you need to get to the emergency room right now,’” Zoerner recalled. “So my wife drove me from my cardiologist straight to Valley Baptist, and that's where it started."

The 58-year-old man said he was feeling tightness in his chest and shortness of breath prior to his doctor’s visit.

“I was worried in a sense of not coming out of this, you start to evaluate, reevaluate things in life that's really important,” Zoerner said. “My main [fear] was not being here for the people I love — my wife, my son, my mother, my brother and the list goes on."

As Zoerner recovers, he said he's eager to get back to work.

He runs his City Barbershop on his own, and the current closure is the first time he's closed up shop after opening nearly 37 years ago.

“I love what I do, I really, really enjoy what I do and a lot of my clients have become friends," Zoerner said. “I have customers that come from Edinburg, the island, Port Isabel, Port Mansfield, Raymondville — oh my gosh you name it.”

Zoerner's health scare is causing him to advocate for heart health.

“If there are signs don't ignore them,” Zoerner said.

He’s also making a promise to his customers and his family.

“I'll be back. Give me a few more weeks, and we're gonna come back strong,” Zoerner said.

Watch the video above for the full story.