PEOPLE are shocked when I tell them that I had a cardiac arrest at age 30. But I\u2019m the face of heart attack \u2014 this is what it can look like.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t only affect overweight, older men.<\/p>\n
I was healthy. I exercised three times a week. I didn\u2019t drink or smoke. I weighed 50 kilos, liked a little bit of sugar but I looked after my diet. Yet I had a heart attack 14 hours after my son, Archer, arrived.<\/p>\n
[My husband] Grant and I tried to have a baby for a couple of years. I had endometriosis, so we tried IVF and on the second round we conceived Archer.<\/p>\n
I had morning sickness, gestational diabetes and carpal tunnel [syndrome] \u2014 and I craved zucchini. But there was no indication of what lay ahead.<\/p>\n
On July 16, 2013, Grant and I went to the hospital at about 6am. I was booked in for a caesarean because Archer was breech. I don\u2019t know what would have happened if I\u2019d had a natural birth.<\/p>\n
The birth went smoothly and Grant cut the cord. But I don\u2019t remember that or holding Archer for the first time because the heart attack I had left me with amnesia about that time.<\/p>\n
Jackie Stripling was a healthy active young women when she suffered a heart attack, hours after giving birth to her son, Archer. Picture: Mitch Bear<\/p>\n
I breastfed Archer but about 13 hours after he was born I began getting chest pain and pain in my left arm. I was told it was probably due to the surgery – who would think a 30-year-old woman who has just had a baby is having a heart attack?<\/p>\n
But over the next hour it got worse and then I vomited. Grant took Archer to the special care nursery to get his blood glucose checked and when he arrived back in my room I was grey. I was dead. He says he\u2019d never seen so many doctors and nurses rushing around.<\/p>\n
They did CPR and defibrillation and managed to resuscitate me. I\u2019d also suffered a seizure. An intensive care doctor examined me and called a cardiologist who operated on me that day and put five stents in my heart to repair a collapsed artery.<\/p>\n
I suffered Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). It\u2019s quite rare but can happen to any healthy man or woman. Mine was triggered by pregnancy and I know of two Australians who experienced SCAD at the same time as me. They both died. SCAD seems to be related to hormones but research is ongoing.<\/p>\n
I was in intensive care for four or five days. Since I\u2019d had a seizure, too, doctors weren\u2019t sure if I had brain damage. Grant wondered how he was going to raise our baby without me \u2026 But I woke up and two weeks later I came home.<\/p>\n
Any time I got a pain in my chest I thought, \u2018Am I going to have another heart attack?\u2019 It\u2019s unlikely to happen again \u2014 but it could \u2014 and that played on my mind.<\/p>\n
I was petrified of dying and wondered if I\u2019d ever live a life where I wasn\u2019t worried every minute of the day. Hypnotherapy helped. My hypnotherapist reminded me that we\u2019re all going to die one day, but every other day we won\u2019t. I shouldn\u2019t worry because it won\u2019t help.<\/p>\n
About six months after surgery I had a routine heart ultrasound and it showed a blood clot, so I\u2019m on aspirin and warfarin [an anticoagulant].<\/p>\n
Due to the cardiac arrest, part of my heart doesn\u2019t pump properly, so I see my cardiologist every six months for checks. He says I\u2019m doing well.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t have more children because of the risk of cardiac arrest during pregnancy. But when Grant and I first married we thought we would never have children, so we\u2019re extremely grateful to have one. We feel very blessed.<\/p>\n
Archer is a busy boy. Grant is a builder and Archer wants to be like dad so he always has a toy hammer or measuring tape in his hand. He\u2019s very active and that takes my mind off things \u2014 I don\u2019t have time to be worried.<\/p>\n
I lead a healthy lifestyle. Initially I was scared to exercise and to put pressure on my heart but I go for bike rides and do body pump classes and I walk a lot.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t fit the mould of someone who would have a heart attack and I don\u2019t think women realise it can happen to them. Maybe they don\u2019t recognise the signs of a heart attack because it\u2019s more than chest pain. Some of the best advice I got was that nobody ever died of embarrassment. So if you feel like something is happening, call an ambulance.<\/p>\n
I never imagined this would happen to me and I\u2019m grateful for the life I have now. It could have been so different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breakout: 80% is the percentage of patients with SCAD who are women. The average age of sufferers is 42 years. Source: Mayo Clinic<\/p>\n