On January 10, I received a call no one ever wants to hear. My dad was calling to tell me my mom was in an accident — she was driving herself to the hospital for chest pain when she went into cardiac arrest and veered off the road. She was found unresponsive and rushed to Abbott Northwestern. I broke down. My body trembling as I refused to believe what was happening. Being 1,000 miles away in a NYC office, I felt helpless.
The three hour plane ride home to Minneapolis felt like a lifetime. The uncertainty unbearable. Thoughts of planning my mom’s funeral infiltrated my mind. Walking into the ICU and seeing my mom, my best friend, unconscious is a picture I’ll never be able to erase from my memory.
How could this be happening? I kept asking myself. My mom is young, healthy and was even out playing pickleball that morning. The doctor explained she had suffered from Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) or a tear in her artery wall, which stopped blood flow to her heart and oxygen to her brain. A rare, freak accident.
The days that have followed have been tough, unbearably long at times, but my mom is strong. A fighter. The toughest person I know, who gets a little better every day!! It’s a different kind of pain and heartbreak when you realize your parents aren’t invincible. But I can confidently say my mom wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for the groundbreaking advances that have been made in cardiovascular health and research and the incredible doctors, specialists and nurses who dedicate their lives to saving others and changing the way we treat CVD.