IN OUR EXPERIENCE

‘I was having a heart attack, but I put dinner on before getting help’

Married with two children, Rebecca Hutchinson was 52 when she had a heart attack in 2018. She works for Apple and lives in Gosport, Hampshire.

‘When I woke up, I felt unwell and had terrible pain between my shoulder blades, like the world’s worst trapped wind. When the pain was most intense, my Apple Watch showed my heart rate climb to 160. Then, I felt dizzy and my heart rate dropped to 30. I checked the watch, but it was fine. I knew then something was wrong, but between pains I had a shower and even put the slow cooker on for my husband. It was irrational, but I was in denial.

I called 111 when I felt the classic crushing pain in my chest and down my arm. I was embarrassed to make a fuss. They arranged for an ambulance and the paramedics did an ECG and said I’d had a cardiac event. I should have called hours before, but you just don’t think women my age have heart attacks. In the ambulance I even said, “I think there’s something wrong with the lights, because they’re flashing!”

In hospital I had an angiogram and was told they didn’t expect to find anything – but I actually had four blocked arteries. I just didn’t fit the usual heart attack profile. Doctors inserted four stents and I spent five nights in hospital. I was discharged just in time for my granddaughter’s first Christmas.

Regaining confidence was hard. I’ve been diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia, a genetic tendency to high cholesterol. It should have been picked up, but tiredness and not feeling well were put down to menopause. If I’d been a guy I would have been sent for tests. Heart attacks can happen to younger women, too.’