I thought I had a chest infection ... it turned out I was having a heart attack

Now Jill wants others to know about warning signs

A Paisley mum-of-two was rushed to hospital with what she thought was a chest infection – only be told that she was having a heart attack.

Support worker Jill McGregor, 52, had no idea she was suffering from a heart attack and was shocked when she was rushed to surgery by paramedics who told her she needed two stents placed in her heart.

A day earlier she was struggling halfway through her 13-hour shift in Glenburn when she began to realise something was seriously wrong.

Jill, of Oakridge Crescent in Paisley, said: “I woke up last Thursday feeling absolutely great. The night before I slept like a baby and got showered, blow dried my hair and got ready for my shift.

“I got into the car I felt a burning sensation start in my throat and chest. I thought I had a chest infection coming on.

“By the time I got time to the top of my stairs at work, I thought I was about to pass out. I tried to compose myself but by 2 pm it was clear I needed to go home.

“I got back and chilled out and the pain passed. But when I woke up on Friday morning the pain was more intense than ever. I could feel my throat burning and pain shooting down my left arm.

“I was really unsettled and I couldn’t stay still. I was pacing about from room to room for the next four hours. Sweat is literally pouring out of me.

“My youngest son called the ambulance and I remember telling the paramedics: ‘My boys are too young not to have a mum’.”

Half an hour later, Jill was given an ECG by paramedics. They confirmed her worst fear - she was having a heart attack and she desperately needed a life-saving operation.

Jill was rushed to Golden Jubilee Hospital, with her son holding her hand in the back of the ambulance. One hour later, she was in surgery.

Jill said: “When I arrived at the hospital the doctors didn’t even introduce themselves.

“They were straight down to business. They knew exactly what they had to do to save my life.

“I had a block in my artery and they put two stents in to open up my heart. I was conscious the whole time. All I could think was: ‘I’ve got to stay alive’.”

Jill’s two sons, Blair, 21 and Ryan, 28, were waiting for their mum when she came out of theatre.

Jill said: “They were just so relieved. They kept saying they couldn’t believe how well I looked.

“I went into surgery looking terrible and an hour later I looked so much better.They were flabbergasted at the difference.

“If it hadn’t been for the NHS I would have been dead.”

The doctors explained that Jill might not have known that she was having a heart attack because her symptoms were so different to the ones she was familiar with from TV and film.

“You watch Casualty and you think all heart attacks are the same,” said Jill.

“Everyone clutches their heart to their chest, falls to the ground and falls unconscious.

“But heart attacks, particularly if you are female, can be very different. My heart attack started on the Thursday and I wasn’t in hospital until the Friday.

“Both my mum and dad have had heart attacks but neither of them ever discussed what the pain was like.

“I want more people to know what the signs are.”

Jill, a former smoker, first began to feel unwell in November last year, but says she had no idea what danger she was in.

She said: “The doctors took one look at my chart and told me that the high blood pressure I experience last year was an angina attack.

“I didn’t know it then, but that was the warning sign.”

Jill is now back at home and said she is overwhelmed with the generosity and support she received.

Jill said:“I cannot thank the NHS enough, every bit of support I received was outstanding.

“The staff stayed with me all through the night, drinking tea with me when I couldn’t sleep.

“They started me on nicotine patches and given me every bit of information I could need and I’ll be visiting a cardiologist soon.

“And then there’s my boys. I used to worry the youngest would starve to death without me making his dinner and neither of them knew how to do the washing.

“When I came home on Monday, all my washing was done, every piece of housework finsihed and they had jet sprayed the whole garden.”

“They really are looking after me. I’m so relieved to be home with them.”

I remember telling the paramedics: ‘My boys are too young not to have a mum’