‘Flat battery’ was a heart attack

Vern Walker didn’t want to let a bout of indigestion stop him from reaching the top of Mount Campbell, near Motueka, while out cycling with a friend.

But the fit 55-year-old had no idea that the burning feeling in his throat and the shortness of breath he was experiencing were signs of a heart attack.

Three months on, Walker knows he is lucky to be alive.

Walker said he hadn’t been feeling great during the ride, then he got a ‘‘flat battery’’ and felt he couldn’t go any further.

His friend went to get the car and Walker remembers feeling very cold.

‘‘I knew at that stage I was crook, but a heart attack you are supposed to have all these pains in your chest and your aching arm syndrome and I didn’t have that.’’

Not long after they got to Mapua, Walker collapsed. He was hooked up to a defibrillator and the paramedic told him he was having a heart attack.

‘‘Which was quite daunting you know, because you think you are having a heart attack, you are going to die.’’

He was flown to Nelson Hospital by the Nelson Marlborough

Rescue Helicopter and less than an hour later he was recovering from heart surgery after having stents inserted.

It turned out that Walker had a heart attack on the same date that his father had died from one while out cycling, seven years earlier.

After recovering, he shared the story of his heart attack with a customer who had a heart attack several weeks later and knew when to get help because of the symptoms he was experiencing.

He admitted he didn’t think he was at risk of a heart attack because of his good health and active lifestyle.

‘‘The reason I didn’t ring 111 sooner is that I just didn’t recognise the signs of it being a heart attack,’’ Walker said.

‘‘If I’d been able to recognise that I was having a heart attack, I could have got help more quickly.’’

The Heart Foundation is highlighting the symptoms of a heart attack and the need for urgent medical attention during July, as part of Heart Attack Awareness month.

Heart Foundation medical director Gerry Devlin says too many New Zealanders place themselves at increased risk of death or permanent heart damage by failing to call 111 when they first experienced symptoms.

‘‘The traditional Kiwi she’ll be right attitude can be fatal,’’ Devlin says. It’s vital all Kiwis are aware of the symptoms of a heart attack and acted with urgency.

It is important to know the warning signs of a heart attack and to act as soon as possible. No two heart attacks are the same, and women can experience different symptoms to men.

● Experiencing heaviness, tightness, pressure, discomfort or pain in the chest that lasts 10 minutes or more.

● Pain that spreads to the jaw, shoulders, neck or back

● You may also experience excessive sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue or dizziness.

Stop, rest and tell someone how you feel, if the symptoms get worse dial 111 for an ambulance.

Vern Walker though having a heart attack meant pains in your chest and aching arm syndrome. In his case it was a burning feeling in his throat and shortness of breath.