If there was an Olympic medal for resilience, then former athlete Sarah Christie would probably have won gold. Not only has the 52-year-old represented New Zealand at long-distance running events, won the Auckland Half Marathon five times and beaten ovarian cancer, but she’s also raised five children.
However, nothing prepared Sarah for her latest challenge – a heart attack. In May last year, the Wellingtonian woke at 2am with a tight chest and no feeling in her arms.
“I felt weird, but not for one second did I think I was having a heart attack because I’ve always been super-healthy,” says Sarah, whose children range from ages 23 to 12. “I probably would have just gone back to sleep.”
Fortunately, her husband Matt, an IT consultant, recognised that his wife’s condition was serious and rang an ambulance.
“Once they started fitting heart monitors and oxygen masks, I thought I was dying,” recalls Sarah. “I asked Matt to tell the kids how much I loved them.”
Doctors admitted her to Wellington Hospital, where they diagnosed her with a rare but serious heart condition, spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), which occurs when the wall of a heart artery suddenly tears.
Responsible for around 4% of heart attacks worldwide, SCAD is the leading cause of heart attacks in pregnant women and in women under 60.
“It was a real shock because I had no warning and had never even heard of SCAD,” explains Sarah. “Doctors told me it can occur to anyone at any time and hormones, or emotional or physical stress may trigger it. I don’t think I was suffering from any of those, but it’s such a random condition, so who knows?”
Sarah remained in hospital for a week, where medication slowed her heart rate. While thankful for the treatment, it made her “feel dead”.
She recalls, “I couldn’t walk up the stairs or do anything except sleep. Even though I felt exhausted, I was also a bit afraid to sleep in case I didn’t wake up again.”
Sarah, who was sponsored by Nike for a decade and headed for the Atlanta Olympics before falling pregnant with her first child, admits it was hard to slow down.
“I’ve been a runner since I was five or six, when my father got me and my sister [three-time Paralympic runner and cyclist Kate Horan] into the sport. As an athlete, my natural compulsion is to push through the pain. But I wasn’t able to do that after my heart attack, which was really frustrating.”
It’s the second time Sarah has cheated death. The first was 12 years ago, when doctors found a 1.2kg tumour in her ovaries. “I was lucky they were able to remove it and I didn’t need chemo or radiotherapy,” she shares.
Sarah admits the heart attack hasn’t only affected her, but it’s also impacted her kids, especially Paddy, the youngest of Sarah’s children, four of whom still live in the family’s Kelburn home.
“A few weeks after I got out of hospital, I fainted at a mall,” she tells. “Paddy caught me and rang the ambulance. He was only 11, but he did everything right, and was cool and calm. He now wants to be a paramedic and is raising funds for an ECG machine for our suburb. All the kids now know CPR.”
Almost a year after Sarah’s heart attack, life has mostly returned to normal. Although she no longer competes in athletic events, the full-time mum still runs for 20 to 30 minutes two or three times a week. What has changed is Sarah now lives in the moment.
“I think the heart attack was my body telling me to slow down and enjoy life’s small pleasures,” she reflects. “And to do things I really want to do, such as going to more live music gigs and visiting my eldest son Boston, who lives on the Gold Coast. I don’t think I would have gone over if I hadn’t had the heart attack.”
Another “beautiful silver lining” has been getting involved in the Heart Foundation NZ’s Big Heart Appeal. This annual campaign aims to raise funds for heart research.
“Paddy and I flew up to Auckland to film this year’s campaign, which was fun,” she enthuses. “I’m hoping my story can help raise funds for heart disease. It’s the number-one killer in New Zealand, claiming the lives of more than 6500 Kiwis every year or one person every 90 minutes.
“A year ago, I didn’t know anything about heart disease. I thought it only affected older or unfit people. Now, I’m a survivor and trying to raise much-needed funds for research, improved treatments and training for cardiologists. It’s been one heck of a year!”
The Big Heart Appeal street collection runs this Friday and Saturday.
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