In May 2023, I suffered a SCAD heart attack while walking to work. I was a healthy, active 54-year old mum with no known risk factors for heart disease or heart attack. It was terrifying.

For 3 days I had been experiencing an uncomfortable burning sensation deep inside my chest which started after a PT session at the gym. The pain returned the next morning during my regular 9 km beach walk and I assumed it was being caused by the cold air. The day prior to my SCAD I experienced a ‘funny turn’ while at an AFL game and the burning chest pain returned when I went to bed that night. The next morning I did another PT session before running to catch a train to the city with my 18 year old daughter. Life was good, I was feeling the strongest physically that I had felt in years – a heart attack was definitely not on my radar!

While sitting on the train the chest pain started to change; I began to feel unwell and was overcome by a feeling of extreme distress. I thought it could be pneumonia or a severe chest infection after having recovered from a bad cold only 2 weeks prior.  Not wanting to alarm my daughter, I told her it was probably just asthma and kissed her goodbye at the train station. I decided to walk to the GP near my office, however as soon as I left the station it was obvious that something very bad was happening. I became almost unable to walk and couldn’t process why I could barely cross the road. Alone and in pouring rain, I slowly staggered across the parklands and steadied myself against a park bench when a sharp pain suddenly travelled from deep within my chest to between my shoulder blades. This is when I knew I was in serious trouble.

I somehow managed to walk across the street to the closest building and collapsed into a chair in the reception area. At that point, I was highly distressed and my memories are hazy. Fortunately, two kind women who had arrived early for work called an ambulance, despite my objections, and it arrived within five minutes. I was given GTN, aspirin and an ECG was taken. The senior ambulance officer said “it isn’t unusual to see this in a LAD, particularly in elite athletes” – I tried to tell them I was not, by any means, an elite athlete! My chest pain had reduced slightly by the time we arrived at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, but it still didn’t feel normal at all. The first registrar told me I had indigestion and gave me Gaviscon, despite me telling him repeatedly that the pain was DEFINITELY NOT indigestion. Then, during a chest x-ray the pain returned 10-fold. My husband and I heard the interventional cardiologist say “seeing this in the LAD is never good” followed by the diagnosis of “SCAD in the LAD”. We didn’t know what this meant but it sounded ominous. He then took my hand and told me my Troponin levels were increasing and I was having a heart attack! To say it was surreal is an understatement, we couldn’t understand how this was possible!

Suddenly a defibrillator was placed at the end of my bed and I was on my way to the Cath Lab for an emergency angiogram. The tone in the room  suddenly changed and there was an obvious sense of urgency which was very frightening.  I learned that I had a SCAD which had torn and completely blocked the distal end of the major heart artery.  By now, my LAD was over half full and at any moment I could have gone into cardiac arrest. Inserting a stent was not an option so a balloon was inflated to gently push the tear back against the artery wall and restore blood flow, immediately alleviating my chest pain.

I should have felt relieved but instead I was overwhelmed with questions after being consoled for having ‘such an rare and awful condition’. Is it terminal? Why couldn’t it be fixed? Will it happen again? Being discharged after only 2 nights in hospital knowing that my artery had to heal naturally was distressing for both me and my family. Previously able to easily walk 9 km, I was suddenly struggling to walk for 5 minutes a day, living in constant fear of a recurrence and suffering another heart attack.

I am ever so grateful for the support I received from the CALHN cardiac rehab team. Cardiac rehab restored the confidence I needed to gradually return to exercise. During the first 6 months, my recovery was deeply affected by the sudden onset of severe anxiety, PTSD and panic attacks which I had never experienced before. I was unable to leave the house and too afraid to be left alone. Locating support for post-SCAD anxiety has proved to be a significant challenge, stemming from the widespread lack of awareness about SCAD and the distinct needs of SCAD survivors within the healthcare community. I was shocked to find that, apart from my rehab team and cardiologist, no other members of my healthcare team were aware of SCAD. Thankfully both of my GPs proactively researched this condition and have been crucial in my recovery process.

I am now 15 months post-SCAD and coming to terms with my new lifestyle. SCAD is an invisible condition, survivors look healthy but the fear of recurrence is always present. The losses we experience are tangible but unseen – confidence, identity and spontaneity. Over time I have learnt to navigate my physical and mental limits. Anxiety and fear are still present but manageable and I have more good days than bad. Instead of power-walking I enjoy daily mindful 5 km beach walks, stopping halfway at my favourite café for a coffee. I no longer worry about the small stuff and take each day as it comes. I am doing the things that I love but didn’t make time to do pre-SCAD, such as meditation and reading every day. By stepping away from working crazy hours with constant stress, I am more present with my family. I have so much gratitude for the love and support that I received from family and friends – it truly takes a village!