Covid creates ‘perfect storm’ for 23-year-old’s heart attack
‘‘I was having a heart attack for three hours before I decided to ring the ambulance.’’ Constance Te Amo
A 23-year-old who suffered a ‘‘massive, rare’’ heart attack induced by Covid-19 is now on a waiting list for surgery.
At the time, she was living with her grandmother in Invercargill, and has since had to relocate to Christchurch to live with her mother.
For the first few days of having Covid19, Constance Te Amo, who is fully vaccinated, said she ‘‘didn’t really feel sick at all’’.
So when she started getting ‘‘sore arms, sore jaws, sore shoulder blades, and a sore heart’’ on April 16, she thought it was the ‘‘body aches everyone talks about’’. ‘‘I was having a heart attack for three hours before I decided to ring the ambulance ... my Covid-19 symptoms were the heart attack, I didn’t feel sick from Covid-19.’’
She was helicoptered to Dunedin Hospital, given a clot buster and blood thinner, and then a coronary angiogram, which found a massive clot in her heart.
She then underwent an angioplasty to clear it. Her mother, Marie Te Amo, said at one point she was told there was only a 12% chance Constance would survive.
Canterbury District Health Board cardiologist Christina Chan, who is Constance’s current cardiologist, attributed her ‘‘huge heart attack’’ to her Covid-19 infection, and an anomaly known as Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO).
A PFO is when the foramen ovale, a hole between the left and right atria which exists in all foetuses to allow blood to bypass the foetal lungs, doesn’t close after birth.
Most people with a PFO would go through their lives without any issues,
she said. However, when Constance caught Covid-19, which is known to increase inflammation, blood clotting and respiratory issues, it created a ‘‘perfect storm’’ for a heart attack, she said.
‘‘Your blood’s thicker, you’re inflamed, you’re pushing your lungs a bit harder, and then you have a hole in the chambers of your heart.’’
Chan emphasised that many people with PFOs would have had Covid-19 with no heart attack symptoms, and Constance’s case was extremely rare, particularly for her age group.
Whilst Constance had been in ‘‘a very dangerous situation’’ when she was airlifted and undergoing surgery in Dunedin, Chan was confident surgery to close the PFO would reduce the chances of her having another heart attack.
Constance said there was little support available in New Zealand for people in her condition waiting for surgery.
‘‘The only support I have outside my family is a heart attack support page on Facebook that everyone around the world contributes too . . . there’s nothing really here, and there’s certainly nothing in Invercargill. A little bit less than nothing here [Christchurch].’’
Despite this, she is relatively upbeat about her prognosis, and has created a ‘‘bucket list’’ of activities she is keen to start ticking off including travelling to Graceland and visiting every zoo in New Zealand. ‘‘My family’s more taking on the mental aspect of it all, and I’m just kind of cruisey . . . I know there’s nothing my family can do.’’
Marie, who has stopped working in order to care for her daughter, said she was upset that Constance’s heart condition had not been recognised by the Government. She believed Ministry of Health messaging had led her to believe as long as her daughter was vaccinated she would only suffer flu-like symptoms if she caught the virus.
She wrote to then-Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on April 28, and had received confirmation that her e-mail had been received on May 2, but was still awaiting a response. A spokesperson for Hipkins said the delay ‘‘was an administrative oversight for which the minister’s office apologises.’’
A Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand spokesperson said whilst it was sorry to hear of the severe medical event, for the vast majority of people the Covid-19 vaccines used in New Zealand remained very effective in preventing severe illness that might result in hospitalisation or death.