TV reporter Mike’s awful news...you’re having a heart attack
OVER the 36 years that Mike McCarthy reported on headline stories across the world, he notched up hundreds of hours appearing on Sky News. Some of his risky assignments saw him posting dispatches amid a live confrontation with masked rioters looting shops in Manchester, being tear-gassed in Athens and covering war assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But in August the veteran broadcaster almost became the story after suffering a massive heart attack while out jogging.
Mike, 58, who retired in June after 16 years as Sky News’ north of England bureau chief, recalls how he mistook the pain for simple indigestion.
‘I was out for a run while staying with my in-laws in Teesside, when I began having chest pains,’ he explains.
A year earlier, he had been diagnosed with gastritis – a nonlife-threatening stomach condition, symptoms of which include severe heartburn.
He says: ‘At first, I thought it was a recurrence of that. I stopped running and walked to a nearby bus stop but the pain was now so intense I had to sit down on a bench.
‘I felt as if someone was standing on my chest and knew it was serious so I rang my wife Glenys, who came immediately. She called 999 and I was taken to hospital.’
Mike went to nearby North Tees Hospital, where his heart attack lasted three hours.
When it stopped, he was moved to Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital where on August 10, cardiologist Dr Neil Swanson performed an angioplasty.
Under local anaesthetic, the surgeon made a pinprick incision in Mike’s right wrist and snaked what the journalist describes as a ‘piece of chicken wire’ through blood vessels to get to the blocked heart artery that had been the cause of his problems.
During angioplasty, doctors either go through a vessel in the groin or the wrist and into the heart using special catheters. They inflate a bal- loon to squash the plaque against the artery walls and then fix a stent – an expandable metal mesh tube – to support it and keep it open. The stent stays in place, restoring blood flow and preventing another heart attack.
‘I have to say it was some of the most fascinating work I’ve watched in my career – I just wish I didn’t have to,’ Mike laughs, as he now recovers at his Sheffield home.
He says he had no obvious symptoms of heart disease. ‘My blood pressure and cholesterol were only just above normal and I was on no medication for either. I kept fit and have no family history of heart disease. But I led a pressured work life, doing long and irregular hours, driving across the UK to cover stories. I do have a sweet tooth and enjoyed a cake with a cuppa most afternoons.’
NOW Mike wants to warn others to learn from his mistakes. ‘I delayed calling for help as I didn’t want to make a fuss or panic my family. While in hospital, one of my sons told me that one in three people who have heart attacks die. The quicker you get treated, the stronger your survival chances are.’
And he says people need to listen to their bodies. ‘When I had gastritis, the pain was mainly in the centre of my chest. With the heart attack it was also on the left side and along my left arm. I was also clammy and shivering.’
Every three minutes, someone in the UK has a heart attack. Senior cardiac nurse Emily Reeve, of the British Heart Foundation, supported Mike’s call to seek help quickly, saying: ‘During an attack, part of your heart muscle is being starved of oxygen. This damage is irreversible, and can result in your heart being unable to pump blood as efficiently around your body. This can cause lethargy, shortness of breath and fluid retention. The faster you receive treatment, the less damage is done to your heart muscle, so time really is of the essence.’
As for being able to tell the difference between a heart attack and gastritis, she says the conditions have overlapping symptoms, including chest pain and sickness. ‘Often people report indigestion or heartburn type symptoms during a heart attack. This can be confusing for people and often they will delay seeking help.
‘If you don’t usually suffer these symptoms, if they suddenly worsen or if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, call an ambulance. Better safe than sorry.’