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Perhaps you would like to share your experience with heart disease. We would love to hear your stories.
Email us at share@meetwallysheart.co.za
Case Study 1
Case Study 2
Case Study 3
Case Study 4
Case Study 5
It certainly wasn't supposed to happen to 34-year-old former Sharks rugby player John Slade. "I'd never even thought about heart disease - I was super fit, didn't smoke and only drank socially." But eight months after giving up professional rugby two years ago, Slade, 10 kilograms heavier and resting from any exercise, suddenly found himself in the ICU department of his local clinic diagnosed with heart disease.
"One minute I was sitting down having brunch at a hotel with my wife, six year old daughter Caitlin and one year old son Mitchell and some friends, and the next minute I felt this terrible pain in my chest. I got up and went to the men's room thinking it was bad indigestion.
"Within 30 seconds my t-shirt was soaking wet and I knew something was really wrong - I remember thinking this can't be happening."
Luckily for Slade he had noticed his doctor sitting behind him in the restaurant and within a couple of hours he was in ICU, after having an ECG (electro cardiogram) an angiogram* and being put onto medication to clear the blockages in his arteries.
"This medication took the pain away and cleared the blockage, and because I was treated so quickly there was no damage to the heart and arteries. I was so lucky just to have this wake up call," enthused Slade.
Only after this event did Slade realise his cholesterol was in fact dangerously high. "It was just below 8 which for a man in his thirties is terrible. Now I get checked out every three to four months and I really watch what I eat. I'm not 100% yet, but I'm getting there. I don't smoke and these days I'm a 'mild weekend drinker'. A lot of my problems came from stress - which all seemed to happen at the same time."
After his heart attack, Slade researched his condition on the internet, wanting to know as much as he could about this illness. "I always thought heart attacks were something that happened to people when they were 60 or 70 - now I know you can have them at 20.
"This has made me reassess my life and perhaps made me more anxious - out of my comfort zone. But it's getting easier - I've even gone back to playing rugby..."
* Angioplasty - A small balloon is introduced into the heart artery using very high pressure. At the point of the blockage it is then inflated and, if necessary, a spring called a "stent" is inserted to keep the coronary artery open.
Issued by The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
For more information, please contact:
Jozi Donjeany, Simeka TWS Communications
Tel: (031) 2039800
Cell: 076 153 8286
Email: jozid@stws.adcorp.co.za
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