My 'textbook typical' heart attack signs were ignored

A 44-year-old woman who had a heart attack last year has said her "textbook typical" symptoms were ignored by health workers.

Mary McFarland from Antrim collapsed in work in October, minutes after experiencing "a crushing pain" in her chest which spread down her arm.

An ambulance was called but she was shocked when paramedics told her it was only a panic attack.

Further hospital tests later confirmed there was a tear in the wall of her coronary artery, which supplies blood to the heart.

Ms McFarland spoke out on the day that the British Heart Foundation (BHF) warned Northern Ireland's heart health was at a "tipping point" following a "record" number of people being affected by heart diseases.

It said it was launching a new strategy aimed at saving "many more families the heartbreak of losing loved ones far too soon".

Ms McFarland said: "I am very aware of the symptoms of a heart attack but I never thought in my early 40s and having a healthy diet, that it could happen to me."

At the time, the mother of three was working as a medicinal chemist.

She considered herself fit, she exercised regularly and had no history of heart problems.

"My colleagues, family and friends were in such disbelief at what happened to me," she said.

"A lot of time people say when a lady has a heart attack she has symptoms that are not typical.

"Mine were textbook typical but they were still ignored."

The BHF said there were 4,227 deaths from heart and circulatory diseases in 2023, which was the highest number of fatalities since 2012.

Further research by the BHF suggested there has been a 12% rise in the number of people diagnosed with heart failure since 2020.

Heart failure means that the heart is too weak to pump blood around the body properly and it can happen at any age.

The BHF said 19,378 patients were given a heart failure diagnosis in 2020, but the latest figure was 21,701 which it described as "a record high".

The BHF also said there has been a 10% rise in the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes since 2020, which is "a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease".

However its head in Northern Ireland, Fearghal McKinney, said we are "entering an era of immense scientific opportunity that can turn this tide".

"By driving a research revolution, we can reverse this worrying trend and save and improve more lives than ever before."

As part of its new strategy, the BHF is urging Northern Ireland to use advances in "data science, artificial intelligence and behavioural sciences to detect and treat those at risk much earlier".

It also pledges to "significantly increase investment in cardiovascular research".

Because of her age, lifestyle and medical history, Ms McFarland did not think she was among those at high risk of heart problems.

On the day she became ill, she was working as part of an interview panel when the chest pain began.

After a few minutes of severe pain and sweating, she got up and left the room and then "collapsed just outside the door".

"I had been a first aider in work for 15 years and my immediate thought was, I'm having a heart attack."

Her colleagues called an ambulance and paramedics performed an ECG (electrocardiogram) test, which records the electrical activity of a patient's heart.

The BFH said ambulance staff diagnosed her condition as a panic attack, but told her that "for her own piece of mind she could go and get a blood test".

"I knew it wasn't a panic attack so I repeated I was the one interviewing, I wasn't being interviewed, however it didn't make a difference," Ms McFarland said.

A colleague took her to hospital, where blood tests revealed she had elevated levels of troponin - a protein which can leak into the blood after a heart attack.

She spent the weekend in hospital in Belfast and on the Sunday a cardiologist told her she was arranging an angiogram - a special X-ray used to check blood vessels.

"However, she said as I looked well and didn't look like her typical heart patient she would ask the senior consultant if it was really necessary to bring the team in [on a Sunday].

"Thankfully the consultant agreed it needed to be done that day," Ms McFarland said.

The angiogram confirmed Ms McFarland had a tear in one of her arteries.

The following night, the cardiology team discovered a blood clot on her heart which had blocked the artery.

She had to undergo a life-saving angioplasty procedure to widen the artery.

Ms McFarland has since made a gradual recovery since starting cardiac rehabilitation in January.

She is now back to work full time and and has been able to rejoin the rowing club she was member of before her illness.

"The main thing is to trust your own body and if you think there's something not right, go with what you believe and get checked out," she said.