A nurse told Adam he was a “heart attack waiting to happen”.
When Adam Smith experienced what he thought were indigestion symptoms, he had no idea he was a “heart attack waiting to happen”. The now-54 year old had been fit and well before he started experiencing chest tightness and breathlessness in late 2020.
He initially put this down to indigestion, but by the following summer, he was struggling to take his dog for a walk without needing to stop and rest every few minutes. This escalated until Adam, from Todenham in Gloucestershire, realised he couldn’t even push the lawnmower from one side of his garden.
His wife Eve urged him to ask his GP about getting his heart checked. Tests revealed Adam’s arteries were severely blocked and he needed imminent major surgery to prevent a life-threatening heart attack from occurring.
Adam, who runs a construction company, said: “It sounds ridiculous now, but at the time, I just didn’t think that what was going on could be so serious. Because it was lockdown when my symptoms started, nobody was really seeing doctors face-to-face and I kept putting it all down to indigestion, even though things were getting worse and worse as the weeks went on.
“There’s a small hill behind our house where I’d normally walk our dog, Walnut, but it got to the point where I could no longer manage it. At first, I just thought I was losing my fitness, but things kept getting worse.
“Eventually, I was on the phone to the GP and my wife said, ‘Make sure the doctor’s 100 per cent certain this isn’t something to do with your heart’, as there is a history of heart attacks in my family and several relatives had previously had heart bypass surgeries.”
Adam was referred to the chest pain clinic at his local hospital. “In my eyes, the nurse I saw at the clinic saved my life,” he said.
“I still get a bit emotional thinking about it. She was the one who really looked at me and saw that I was a heart attack waiting to happen, as my arteries were so blocked.”
Adam had a quintuple bypass in September 2021 at the Oxford Heart Centre at John Radcliffe Hospital. He spent five days in hospital before going home to continue his recovery.
Since then, he has worked hard to get his fitness back up, including taking part in the London to Brighton Bike Ride every summer, raising funds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
Adam said: “Recovery was a long road. At first, all I could manage was walking a few yards. But my wife and friends were amazing, they all came and walked with me – I just walked and walked myself back to fitness.
“About six weeks after the surgery, I saw an advert for the BHF’s London to Brighton Bike Ride and I thought – right, I’m going to do this. I needed something to work towards and, after everything that had happened, I knew how important the charity’s work is.
“Obviously, I had to go through assessments with the cardiac rehab team, but as soon as I could go back to the gym, I did, and then I started cycling.” He completed his first London to Brighton Bike Ride in 2022, and raised around £5,000.
Adam said: “The following year, a few friends wanted to take part too, so we decided to ride together as a group, and we raised another £5000 or so as a team.” On June 15 this year, Adam is set to take on the iconic 54-mile bike ride for the fourth time.
He added: “I’ll be riding with friends again this year, but unfortunately just in the last few months, one of the friends who’s done it with me for the last two years has been diagnosed with the heart rhythm disorder, atrial fibrillation, and will be undergoing treatment soon. My sister also very recently underwent heart bypass surgery.
“So, this year, doing the London to Brighton Bike Ride feels particularly poignant again. My plan is to keep doing it for as long as I can.”
Although Adam is now on cholesterol and blood pressure medication, he exercises as much as possible to keep his cardiovascular system healthy. “I’m still the same person as I was before the surgery, but now I do two or three yoga classes a week, I go to Pilates and I do two weight training sessions a week,” he said.
“And of course I do my cycling. There’s not really a single day where I’m not doing some form of exercise to try and stay as fit and healthy as I can. I will be on medication now for cholesterol and blood pressure possibly for the rest of my life, but I wake up every morning feeling grateful for the NHS, because I do believe they saved my life.”
There are around 100,000 hospital admissions each year in the UK due to heart attacks – the equivalent of one every five minutes. To support Adam and his friend’s fundraising efforts, see his Just Giving page here.
Entries for BHF London to Brighton Bike Ride on June 15 are still open until May 31. To sign up or find out more, visit bhf.org.uk/L2B.
Symptoms
The BHF lists “stomach pain like indigestion”, which is what Adam experienced, as a potential warning sign of heart disease. The charity says: “A painful or burning feeling in your chest or stomach can be a sign of a heart attack or related heart problem.
“However, it can be hard to tell the difference between heart pain and indigestion. That’s because the heart, the stomach and the gullet (the passage between your mouth and stomach) all lie right next to each other.”
If you’re not sure which one is causing your stomach pain, the BHF advises calling NHS 111 for advice.
Other potential signs of heart disease include:
- Chest pain
- Arm, jaw or back pain
- Feeling sweaty
- Choking feeling
- Felling sick
- Swollen ankles
- Leg pain
- Extreme fatigue
- Palpitations.
The NHS lists signs of a heart attack as chest pain, pain in other parts of the body, feeling lightheaded or dizzy, sweating, shortness of breath, feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting), an overwhelming feeling of anxiety (similar to a panic attack), and coughing or wheezing. If you think you or someone you know is experiencing a heart attack you should call 999.