I was 22 and I knew I was dying, I screamed ‘I’m having a heart attack’

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I was 22 and I knew I was dying, I screamed ‘I’m having a heart attack’

One day, when I was 17, my left leg suddenly felt tight and sore. I thought I must have a muscle injury because I was a hockey player and did a lot of running and weight training. But it started to go blue and get *******, so I went to the GP. He said I’d got an ankle injury and to go home and put a cold compress on it.

I couldn’t sleep with the pain and, the next day, could barely walk, so I went back to the GP who told me, “You need to go to A&E right now” without explaining why.

At the hospital, I had a scan, and doctors told me I had a massive deep vein thrombosis from the top of my hip to the bottom of my ankle. No one explained why it’d happened though, or warned me that it could lead to a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. The consultant just told me: “You’ve got a blood clot, here’s some medication, go home.”

Afterwards, I had to deal with the mental and physical toll. I couldn’t walk normally for eight weeks and the blood thinner I was prescribed made my hair start to fall out.

My left leg was five inches wider than my right – it’s still two inches ******* now and still gets sore. I lived in fear that I might have another deep vein thrombosis, and kept getting upset when I was studying at sixth-form college. The truth was I’d become frightened of my own body.

I was referred to a haematologist who suggested the blood clot had been due to my contraceptive pill, so told me to come off it and take blood thinners for the next six months.

Faith had always been sporty and now works as a pilates teacher. (Supplied)

A second blood clot

A year later, when I was no longer taking the pill or the blood thinners, I felt a sudden pain in my groin. It turned out I had another blood clot and was put back on blood thinners, but my doctor didn’t seem to take it seriously and decided I was just unlucky to have had two blood clots. It frightened me that I didn’t have a reason for something so serious happening to me.

For the next couple of years, though, life was great. My health was fine, I moved in with my fiancé and I was flourishing as an online fitness coach. That was until one day in January 2024.

I was on my way to a hockey game when I felt a little nauseous, but I put it down to pre-match anxiety. Then, I was having coffee with the team after the game and suddenly came over all agitated and cold. On the drive home, I felt like my chest had started to crush me from front to back, and my left arm went completely numb.

On the drive home, I felt like my chest had started to crush me from front to back, and my left arm went completely numb.

I pulled into a lay-by, got out of the car, and started to swing my arms around and walk up and down. Of course, these are textbook heart attack symptoms but nobody in my position – a fit, young girl – is ever going to think that’s happening to them.

I began to feel a sense of impending doom, but I didn’t think to call an ambulance because my normal human reactions had just gone out of the window. I called my partner saying: “I don’t know what’s wrong, but I just don’t feel like myself.”

He was too far away to get me, so I drove home. I’ve no idea how I did it but I got to my parents’ house where I started to feel like I was being run over from head to toe. Both my arms were numb now and I started vomiting profusely. I went grey and was rolling on the bed trying to alleviate the pain, completely hysterical.

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After her own traumatic experience, Faith went on to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. (Supplied)

Life or death situation

My mum and dad dialled 999, told them what was happening and mentioned my previous DVTs, but the operator said: “She’s having a panic attack.” At this point, I knew I was dying and had to get help, so I screamed, “I’m having a heart attack!”

Shockingly, I was denied an ambulance, so my partner and dad got me in the car and I walked, hunched over, into A&E. They said I had a stomach bug but that they would do blood tests and an ECG – at which point, the nurse ran off, they put the blue curtains around me, and a doctor spoke to my dad on the other side.

I began hysterically crying and shouting, ‘What’s going on?’ but they put me on such a high dose of morphine that I didn’t really know what was happening.

I heard him say, “Your daughter needs to go to Stoke [hospital] right now because she’s having a heart attack and could die.”

I began hysterically crying and shouting, “What’s going on?” but they put me on such a high dose of morphine that I didn’t really know what was happening. They asked my dad and my partner if I was a ******** user because the ECG was so abnormal for a 22-year-old but I don’t do drugs or drink. I’ve never even smoked a **********.

The paramedics got me in the ambulance to Stoke hospital which has a ******* cardio unit, put defibrillator pads on me, and took me to the coronary care unit where a surgeon asked me to sign a form, saying, “You need this surgery or you’re going to die.”

A ‘widowmaker’ heart attack

They brought my dad in who was completely distraught. Next I had an angiogram (a blood vessels x-ray) and a procedure called a thrombectomy. It showed that the biggest artery in the heart – the left anterior descending artery – was 100% blocked by a blood clot.

Throughout all this, I was awake, on local anaesthetic, and felt the wires poking and prodding in every chamber of my heart as they removed the clot. It was what’s known as a ‘widowmaker heart attack’, a particularly serious attack with a less than 12% survival rate.

I’d had a particularly serious heart attack with a less than 12% survival rate.

Afterwards, I spent a week in the coronary care unit and was told I was in severe heart failure and may need a heart transplant. Then further tests showed I had something called a PFO, a hole in the heart that is more like a flap. You’re born with it – one in four people have one – and they’re meant to close six months after birth. Mine simply didn’t, but I’d never known I had it as I’d had no symptoms.

This still didn’t explain the clots though. Then my vascular surgeon told me I also had a condition called May-Thurner Syndrome, which is where an iliac artery, a major artery that directly meets with the heart, compresses on to an iliac vein. Essentially it’s like a hose pipe being squashed every time your heart beats, disrupting the blood flow and increasing the risk for deep vein thrombosis.

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Faith has now recovered and is enjoying planning her wedding, pictured with fiancé Sam. (Supplied)

A ticking time bomb

I had two congenital problems and they’d clashed horribly. It was a relief to finally know what was wrong. Doctors told me, “Faith, you were basically a ticking time bomb, and that bomb went off, but we’re never going to let that bomb go off again.” The unknown had been the most frightening thing so their words made me feel like I could start rebuilding myself.

My surgeon said the best thing I could do was to manage my conditions through medication and lifestyle. I’m now on blood thinners for life and have regular tests. I’ve worked hard to strengthen myself in every way, from eating well and getting plenty of sleep to boosting my confidence.

I also had cognitive behavioural therapy because I didn’t want to live in fear and anxiety.

I also had cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) because I didn’t want to live in fear and anxiety. I still have bad days, but I’ve got to a point where I’m completely in control. Now, my heart functions the same as a normal heart and I’ve gone from nine out of 17 segments being damaged to six. My healthy lifestyle helped my heart to repair itself, so I won’t need a heart transplant after all.

If my DVTs had been taken seriously and I’d had a diagnosis earlier, the heart attack would never have happened. I’m only 23 and was very lucky to survive – now I have my whole life to live. I’m planning my wedding, I’ve qualified as a Pilates teacher and am opening my own studio, Heart and Harmony Wellness, next month. I’d like to think that my story can bring positivity and hope to people who are in a tough place mentally, to show that the bad times don’t last.

Faith is a British Heart Foundation ambassador,

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What are the symptoms of a heart attack?

Heart attack symptoms can vary from person to person, however

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says common signs can include:

Pain that feels like it’s spreading form your chest to your arms (most commonly the left), jaw, neck, back and stomach

If you think you or someone else might be experiencing a heart attack, call 999 immediately.

Read more on heart health:

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#knew #dying #screamed #heart #attack

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