When Suzanne Prentice’s husband Steve walked through the doors of Southland Hospital to visit his wife, a “code blue” alarm was ringing out, indicating a patient was in cardiac arrest.
Doctors ran into the emergency room from all directions, but Steve, 69, didn’t realise it was Suzanne they were running to.
“My daughter Andrea works within the hospital too, so she could also hear this code blue happening and of course, it was me,” recalls the 64-year-old entertainer.
“It was very traumatic for them – not so much for me, I was out of it!”
When the Weekly chats to Suzanne down the line at her Invercargill home, it’s been a year since the eventful day, when a heart attack put her in hospital.
Sharing her experience as part of the Heart Foundation’s Big Heart Appeal, Suzanne reveals it was nothing like what heart attacks on TV might have you expect – no clutching of the chest or gasping for breath. And there were no warning signs in the days leading up to it.
“That’s the thing that surprised me the most,” she tells. “I’ve always been prone to vasovagal attacks [a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure, leading to fainting], but January 19, 2022 was a perfectly normal day.
“I’d just got home from a meeting, I had dinner and all of a sudden I started to get this pain in my neck. So I said to Steve, ‘Can you come and have a look at this?’
“And as soon as I put my head down for him to manipulate my neck, the pain just increased, and went straight through to my back and my chest. I had to lie down. I’ve never had intense pain like it.”
Steve rang for an ambulance and Suzanne was rushed to hospital, where tests confirmed she had suffered a heart attack.
It was early the next morning – again without any warning and without any pain in her chest – that the singer went into cardiac arrest and was revived with CPR.
“Before I knew it, I was in the Otago Rescue Helicopter heading to Dunedin Hospital,” she says. “During my three days there, I was fitted with a stent in one artery and put on medication for another artery which was slightly blocked.
A big thumbs-up to the rescue helicopter.
“My four grandchildren [Bridie, 16, Blake, 15, Oliver, nine, and George, six] all visited me in hospital and it was a shock for them, especially the younger two.
“Oliver asked me, ‘Did you really die?’ and I had to try and keep it light for them. Even today, it’s the hardest thing to get my head around that I’d fallen off the perch.”
Previously, Suzanne had a bit of high blood pressure, but it was under control. A fit and active person, she also laughs at the memory of taking up body building in her early forties and believes her weight training has also helped her over the years.
“The heart attack was more of a genetic thing for me,” she tells. “Both my parents had cardiovascular disease, so it was on the cards I might have issues. But I had been so well leading up to it.”
She does concede, however, that her life was too busy. Along with performing mostly overseas each year, Suzanne also does countless shows for charity fundraisers, serves on the board of the Invercargill Licensing Trust, is a trustee of the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter service and is part of the team at Hospice Southland as their event coordinator.
“I’ve always gone at 100 miles an hour between my singing career and my community commitments,” says Suzanne, who has sung all round the world with the likes of Julio Iglesias, Dolly Parton and The Beach Boys. “And most women are the same, especially if you’re a mother… you just keep going. I knew I let work and pressures take over my life.
The singer’s career has spanned 52 years.
“But the heart attack taught me to slow down and choose what I do with my time more carefully, so I can make more time for myself. I don’t rush any more. I’ve learnt to say no more, which is something I find very hard to do. But it shouldn’t take a heart attack to say ‘no’, should it?”
Determined to make the best of her “second chance”, Suzanne has returned to her singing career – which began as a pint-sized 12-year-old with a big guitar, singing country tunes – but at a slightly slower tempo.
She’s decided to pull back on overseas commitments and focus on performances planned throughout New Zealand.
“Because I became so busy, I stopped being as physically active as I would have liked, so I’ve stepped that up again,” she reveals. “Now I do a lot more walking with the dog and the two young grandkids.
“I feel so lucky I was given a second chance, for which I’ll be eternally grateful. It could have gone either way.
She concludes, “Steve and I had a wee celebratory drink the other night on the anniversary of my hospitalisation – a cheers
to living another year. It’s made me realise you’ve got to enjoy every minute you’ve got.”
Suzanne is supporting the Big Heart Appeal, which kicks off this month with a virtual campaign along with a nationwide street collection on Friday, February 24-25. You can support the Heart Foundation’s life-saving heart research by visiting heartfoundation.org.nz/get-involved/big-heart-appeal
