At the age of just 36 and with two children aged 11 months and three years, Jen O’Neil, of Gosford, never thought she would be a candidate for a heart attack.
Suffering from stress as well as managing the daily demands of having two young children, a heart attack was the furthest thing from her mind.
“With no family history of heart disease, no high blood pressure or any concerns to do with the heart, the diagnosis of a heart attack was a complete shock,” she said.
O’Neil had what is known as a SCAD heart attack – an uncommon form of heart attack that mainly strikes women in the prime of their life.
“The cardiologist said my husband saved my life by recognising the signs and rushing me to hospital,” she said.
“I was in hospital for eight days and was discharged on my youngest child’s first birthday.
“Unlike so many other mums that had suffered a fatal SCAD, my small boys still had their mum.
“I felt incredibly lucky, but was still in shock and it still hasn’t really sunk in.
“I am blessed to have an amazing support around me – my wonderful husband and sons, my parents and parents-in-law not to mention my extended family who rallied around and helped us get through this time.”
SCAD stands for Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection where a sudden tear occurs within the layers of one or more arteries to the heart.
This tear blocks blood flow, which can lead to cardiac arrest and sometimes death.
SCAD is the number one cause of a heart attack in women under age 50, as well as the number one cause of a heart attack in women who are pregnant and new mothers.
Survivors have joined forces to raise much-needed awareness and fund life-saving research holding 5km walk or run right around the nation.
O’Neil will host the 5km Central Coast Walk at Terrigal on Sunday, October 29, starting from 9:30am.
People can register or find out more at https://www.mycause.com.au/events/scadaddle2023 – as part of the annual national event known as SCADaddle for Research.
“We need everyone involved to educate, advocate, and to raise awareness and research fund,” she said.
“Together we’ll find the answers we need, and I will be asking all my friends and family to join me this October.
“I want to ensure that SCAD heart attacks don’t affect my children or my grandchildren.”
The average age of SCAD sufferers is just 42, and 80 per cent of sufferers are women, typically occurring in healthy, often fit adults with no standard risk factors for heart disease.
Heart disease is a leading cause of death in Australian women, killing almost three times more women than breast cancer each year.
Yet funding for heart research pales in comparison, with $220M invested in cardiovascular disease per year compared with the Australian Government investing more than $4.9B in cancer research in 2020-21.
Professor Jason Kovacic of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, which is leading Australia’s first and largest research program into SCAD said that until recently SCAD was considered a rare disease.
“Little is known about its causes or why it mainly affects women,” he said.
“But we are finally starting to understand its triggers and have recently discovered 16 key genes associated with SCAD.
“Heart disease is the biggest killer of Australian women and it’s vital we continue researching this disease so we can develop preventative treatments and provide genetic diagnoses for families affected by SCAD.”
People can register or find out more or register for the Central Coast Walk visit https://www.mycause.com.au/events/scadaddle2023.
Source:
SCAD Research Inc