Money raised during the Santos Great Bike Ride for Charity will help fund the Heart Foundation’s research projects and awareness campaigns fighting cardiovascular disease.
One of the Heart Foundation’s most important campaigns is Will you recognise your heart attack? Learn the warning signs.
As part of the campaign Carole Parsons volunteered to tell her story to help warn others.
Carole, aged 53 and otherwise healthy, was having a relaxing massage on the last day of a recent holiday in Bali.
She recognised the warning signs and sought medical attention.
As soon as she started experiencing pain that didn’t subside, that felt as if “someone was standing on my chest”, she knew it could be a heart attack.
However, doctors there told her it was probably indigestion.
That night she flew home and went to bed feeling exhausted.
At the urging of her parents she went to see her doctor and was admitted to hospital where it was confirmed that she had suffered a heart attack caused by a clot.
“I had thought that if you were overweight, ate fast food, drank and smoked and if you were over 70, then you were a heart attack candidate. This has proved me completely wrong.
“I think people need to realise that heart disease is not an old person’s problem nowadays - it could happen to anyone.”
