Faith Harrison had just won a hockey game, but immediately felt a sense of impending doom.
What she didn’t know was that she had just had a heart attack.
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Fitness coach Faith Harrison was told her symptoms were just panic attacks Credit: PA
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After taking her to A&E, medics discovered Faith had suffered a ‘widow’ heart attack Credit: PA
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Sarah McKay Tams, a 50-year-old mother of three, suddenly suffered a heart attack that doctors believe was caused by stress.
Only 22 years old, healthy and active, she does not fit the typical victim profile.
But the incident on January 5 this year, along with the 32,000 other women admitted to hospital with heart attacks each year, will forever change the course of her life, according to British Heart Research.
The fitness coach, from Little Minstery, Shrops, told Sun Health: I didn’t think much of it at the time.
“About 30 minutes after driving home, out of nowhere I felt a strong pressure in the center of my chest. It felt like an elephant was sitting on me.
Read more about heart attacks
Dark clouds are approaching
“My left arm felt numb and tingled.
“Surprising, I pulled into the waiting area. At that moment, I experienced a terrifying sense of impending doom. I had heard about it, but never really understood it until that moment. I couldn’t.
“It felt like a dark cloud was gathering, accompanied by an overwhelming feeling that I was going to die.”
Faith got back in her car and drove an hour to her parents’ house, where she became unwell, vomiting uncontrollably, rolling over and screaming in pain.
Faith recalled that her father called 999. “I was convinced I was having a heart attack.
“However, the person on the phone dismissed it as a panic attack, probably due to my age, gender and fitness level.
Heart attack symptoms in women and men
“He had chest pain, vomiting, tingling in both arms, and yet they didn’t think it was anything serious.”
Faith was told to take her to A&E “within an hour” and when they arrived doctors discovered she had suffered a “widow” heart attack.
Research shows that only 12% of people survive outside the hospital with this type of heart attack (when the largest artery to an organ is blocked).
Faith, who is an ambassador for the British Heart Foundation, said: “I didn’t receive proper medical care for nearly seven hours.
“I am currently living with heart failure because there is severe damage to the left ventricle and dead heart tissue never heals.”
Faith was diagnosed with a hole in her heart and has been told she may someday need a heart transplant. As a result, the drugs made her unable to have children.
It is recognized as a “men’s disease” because it is a major threat to men’s health.
Elinor Fowler
Anyone can have a heart attack, but British heart experts said last week that heart disease is the reason why British women are dying “unnecessarily” from heart disease, the leading cause of heart attacks. He blamed this on the misconception that it is a “men’s disease.”
Lead author Professor Vijay Kunadian said the database showed “year after year” that women were being undertreated and “unfortunately that is leading to higher mortality rates”.
Heart disease is a broad term that includes conditions such as angina, heart failure, arrhythmia, and coronary heart disease, which is the leading cause of heart attacks.
According to the BHF, CHD is the world’s leading cause of death for both men and women.
More than 23,000 women die in the UK each year, twice as many as from breast cancer, compared to 45,000 men.
“This is perceived as a ‘men’s disease’ because it is a major threat to men’s health,” says Eleanor Fowler, head of research and information at Heart Research UK.
“This means that a woman may have typical symptoms that may not be recognized as a heart problem.
“There are many misdiagnoses given to women with symptoms of heart disease.
“These misdiagnoses mean women are far less likely to receive the life-saving care they need as soon as they need it.
“It’s important to remember that this doesn’t just affect men, and it’s important that everyone understands the risks and knows how to take care of their own minds,” she said. added.
Heart attack risk is increased by high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and being overweight. Bad habits such as poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, and drinking alcohol can also cause it.
I’m not overweight, I don’t smoke, I only drink white wine and soda, and I do a fair amount of exercise.
Faith Harrison
But when Sarah McKay Tams, 50, suddenly suffered a heart attack, it wasn’t high blood pressure that was the culprit, but the stress of her job.
Freelance writer and staff resident in Burton-under-Needwood says: “One morning in August 2023, as I was making my bed, I felt pressure all over my collarbone, as if it were being held in a vise.
“But it wasn’t an unbearable pain. It was just a really weird and unpleasant sensation. It felt creepy.
“Then I started feeling a tingling pain in my right arm.”
When Sarah went downstairs, her husband of eight years, Rob, said Sarah looked blue in the face.
Her symptoms warranted a 999 call, but Sarah said it felt like an “overreaction”, so she called NHS 111 and the team sent an ambulance.
Sarah said an initial electrocardiogram looked “fairly normal” but blood tests revealed she had suffered a mild heart attack.
she says: “They put me in the cardiac ward overnight and they were all about 20 years older than me.
“I’m not overweight, I don’t smoke, I only drink white wine and soda, and I do a fair amount of exercise.
“I wasn’t the typical victim.”
Sarah had been managing her high blood pressure for 20 years, and an angiogram showed her “heart is clean and unblocked.”
I’m very grateful
Sarah, who now works part-time, said:
“I’m especially grateful for this, as women tend to think that they’re just doing what they have to do when it comes to work, childcare, and housework.
“If I hadn’t had high blood pressure, I might have ignored it and been fine the next day, but then it happened again.”
The NHS Health Check is carried out every five years for people over the age of 40 and can check for symptoms that increase the likelihood of heart or circulatory disease.
Menopause, diabetes, and preeclampsia during pregnancy are risk factors that only affect women.
At such a young age, Faith is determined not to let her heart attack define her.
She hosts the podcast “Shut The Front Door” and founded Heart and Harmony Wellness to educate women about heart health and beneficial lifestyle habits.
she says: “I have decided that I cannot and should not live my life in fear and anxiety.”
