If I never had a heart screening, I wouldn’t have a nude swimming world record!

Last week we highlighted how health insurance benefits you may not even know about could save your life. SINéAD HAMILL tells us how a free cardiac check up with Laya did just that. She was one of 10% of people who required further investigation through HeartBeat. Otherwise Sinéad wouldn’t have been able to continue her diverse career as mother, author and record-breaking nude swimmer...

Tell us about your check up.

I got a letter from Laya about a free cardiac check. I nearly threw it in the bin but my daughter, who was nine at the time, told me to do it and luckily I did. I was mildly suspicious that my heart was sometimes missing a beat. After about 20 seconds they said I had atrial fibrulation, a leading cause of stroke. They put me on an anticoagulant (anti-clotting medication), a strong one at first that was later changed to a mild version.

So how did it save your health?

In 2013 I was looking at a shampoo bottle in Tesco and I couldn’t read it. My eyesight went blurry. I also felt like I had some sort of migraine. It was a clot blocking blood flow to my brain. I had had a stroke. They told me it was the second one. Neither time had I any loss of speech or motor function. I was fit – I did marathons. But they told me if I hadn’t been on blood thinners I would have had a devastating stroke. Subsequently I had a procedure that fixes arrhythmia.

So what would you say to others?

Absolutely get a heart screening. God knows what would have happened to me if I hadn’t.

How are you doing now?

I don’t run marathons – the cardiologist wouldn’t like it! I play Gaelic football – more on the senior citizens side than the senior side! And I coach. I’m the one tearing up the sideline shouting.

Lessons learned?

After nearly dying, you don’t sweat the little stuff any more. And I got the extra push I needed to finish my first book. [Sinéad has published four now].

How’s the book business?

I have to write. If I don’t write it down, it drives me nuts. I make some money but you wouldn’t live on it.

You self-published your first book, Scumbags And Handbags. How much does that cost?

I paid €150 to design the book and €250 for layout and to make sure it looked right and had the barcode in right place. If you want to professionally edit, it would cost another grand. (Amazon enables books to print on demand so the print cost is factored into the price).

So you broke a nude swim record?

I did Strip & Dip [a cancer charity event] which broke the Guinness World Record last June in Meaghermore beach in Wicklow, beating the previous record set in Perth. Around 2,500 women went into sea naked to raise money to fight cancer.

What gets your goat as a consumer?

Cold callers coming to your door in the evenings to flog their wares (mainly utility companies). The only person I want at my door at that time is Richard Corrigan and his sous chef... and the O’Brien’s delivery van.

Do you shop around for stuff – mortgages, insurance, energy?

Yes. And articles giving home finance tips are a great source of information.

Any good deals lately?

I got good deal on car insurance this year with AA.

Ever have a run-in with a company/ restaurant?

Yes, at an Italian restaurant in town I checked on an order 45 minutes after it was placed. The manager shouted at our family so I left.

Would you complain if your food was cold?

Yes, but probably the Irish way, i.e after I’d finished it.

Ever been ripped off?

Yes – by a roofing contractor a couple of years ago. Get references, folks!

What would you do if you were government minister?

Give school girls the option to wear trousers instead of skirts for uniform. Give national sports first dibs on council pitches. Ban social media for kids under 18. Every Laya Healthcare member over the age of 12 is entitled to a Heartbeat screening every two years.