14/09/2021
This weekend was the 5 year anniversary of one of the scariest days of my life. We all went to my brothers house one Sunday afternoon for a bbq and were sitting chatting before dinner when my mum said her back was sore. She thought she'd pulled a muscle or maybe a trapped nerve but I could see in her face it was really uncomfortable. She went to get some fresh air but in typical style of my mum, didn't make a big deal of it. After a few minutes, I could see it was getting worse and I offered to take her up to the local hospital to get it checked. So me, my sister and my mum got into the car. We started to panic more in the car when my mum wasn't talking, her skin was so pale and she was clearly in a lot of pain. For some reason, we still didn't phone 999. In hindsight, it's crazy. We were on the phone to NHS 24 and were now driving to the main hospital. We were on the motorway and I just remember thinking this was now a life and death situation. It was so surreal. My mum was 59 - healthy, slim, fit with no health conditions. After a huge drama inside (a whole other story), she was blue lighted to another hospital. It was a heart attack. It came completely out the blue. It didn't look like you'd expect it to look. She didn't clutch her chest and fall to the ground. It's so awful to remember that day because with hindsight, I feel like I'm screaming at us saying 'phone 999!'. Maybe it's in our culture to stay calm and not be overly dramatic. Or maybe it was denial, I don't know. The reason I'm sharing this is because I want everyone to remember that 999 is there to be used. If you think you need it, don't be scared to call it. I also wanted to highlight that heart attacks aren't always the typical symptoms. In women, they can have upper back pain, indigestion, extreme fatigue, jaw or neck pain. It's so important to be aware of these different symptoms so you can identify what's happening asap and call for help. We were so lucky that my mum was okay. ❤️
