How could he? "I was actually right there," Abram said. " ... It was one of those things where he would wake up and then go back to sleep. I didn't know what was happening, not until my mom called 911. My whole family came to our house and then they took him to (Methodist Hospital in Gary). "That's when he died." Reggie Abram Sr. died of a heart attack Feb. 21, 2009. He was 41. Wednesday would have been his 54th birthday. Abram Jr. said he was playing with his sister, Ryan, at their home in Merrillville when the phone rang and he handed it to his father. One of Abram Jr.'s cousins had called, asking to speak with his dad. But throughout that brief conversation, Abram Sr. seemed to float in and out of consciousness.